Buhari orders sanction of deputy director who plagiarised Obama’s speech

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered that prompt and appropriate disciplinary action be taken against those responsible for a wrongful insertion in his speech delivered on September 8 at the launch of the ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign.

Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.

He said it was observed that the similarities between a paragraph in Barack Obama’s 2008 victory speech and what Buhari read in Paragraph 9 of the 16-paragraph address while inaugurating the campaign last Thursday were too close to be passed as coincidence.

‎”There was a mistake by an overzealous staff and we regret that this has happened,” Shehu said.

“Already, a deputy director in the presidency has accepted responsibility for the insertion of the contentious paragraph.

“This serious oversight will be investigated thoroughly and appropriate sanction meted. 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.

“President Buhari urges Nigerians to look beyond this incident and focus on the message of change, which the country needs in order to restore our cherished value systems.”