Plagiarism of Obama’s Speech: Presidency to expel deputy director from Aso Rock

The Presidency will this week transfer a deputy director, blamed for the plagiarism of U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech, out of the State House, Abuja.

The presidency had on Friday blamed the yet-to-be-named deputy director for the scandal that has embarrassed the Nigerian government.

“Already, a Deputy Director in the Presidency has accepted responsibility for the insertion of the contentious paragraph,” Garba Shehu, Mr. Buhari’s spokesperson, said in a statement on Friday.

“The Presidency wishes to state in the clearest possible terms that it regrets this unfortunate incident and will ensure that this does not happen again.

“This serious oversight will be investigated thoroughly and appropriate sanction meted,” he added.

The official will start facing disciplinary proceedings in accordance with civil service rules today (Monday), presidency sources said.

But he will first be directed to vacate his seat at the president’s office, officials have told PREMIUM TIMES.

The Permanent Secretary of the State House, Jalal Arabi, is expected to query the official and then refer his case to the Head of Service for further actions, our sources said.

The unnamed official has been blamed for tinkering with a speech prepared for President Buhari, plagiarising a famous speech Mr. Obama delivered when he was elected the first black President of the United States.

The plagiarism was first detected by THISDAY Newspaper and Mr. Buhari apologised for the “wrongful insertion”Friday night.

PREMIUM TIMES sources said the official committed the embarrassing act after Mr. Buhari’s speech had already been vetted by officials at the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Administration.

Presidential spokespersons, Femi Adesina, and Garba Shehu, did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES requests for comments on the disciplinary actions being taken against the deputy director.

Plagiarism: Presidency to punish official who inserted Obama's quote in President Buhari's speech

 

The Presidency has responded to reports that President Buhari plagiarized president Barack Obama's speech at the launch of "Change Begins With Me" reorientation campaign in Abuja last week.

A part of President Buhari's speech (right) contained largely the same arrangement of words and emotional outburst that President Obama used in his 2008 victory speech (left) after he was elected the first American black president. Reacting to the report, Senior Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Shehu Garba, says the official responsible for the speech will be sanctioned

Below is the statement issued by Shehu Garba Shehu, SSAP Media and Publicity to the President:

The Presidency wishes to respond to a story on alleged plagiarism in a Presidential Speech that has been trending for most of today.

The Presidency observed that the similarities between a paragraph in President Obama’s 2008 Victory Speech and what the President read in paragraph nine of the sixteen-paragraph while inaugurating the “Change begins with me” are too close to be passed as coincidence. There was a mistake by an overzealous administration staff and we regret that this has happened.

A Deputy Director in the Presidency has accepted responsibility for the insertion of the contentious paragraphs even when a query to him was being typed.

This serious oversight will be investigated thoroughly and appropriate punishment meted.

The Presidency, once again regrets this unfortunate incident. Measures have been put in place to ensure that this does not happen again.

President Muhammadu Buhari admonished Nigerians to move past incident and focus on the message of change which the country needs in order to restore our cherished value systems.

Source: Quotes culled from Thisday