A letter purportedly written by Finland’s prime minister, Sanna Marin, requesting a Nigerian-Finnish lawyer to retract some contentious remarks regarding the upcoming Nigerian general elections has been disowned by the government.
In a phone interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday, Finland’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Leena Pylvänäinen, stated that “it is a complete fake but unfortunately has spread very widely sadly.”
The letter claims that Simon Ekpa, a Nigerian-Finnish leader in the South-east Biafran agitation, was given 48 hours by Finland’s prime minister to stop encouraging Nigerians to boycott the upcoming general elections.
PREMIUM TIMES noted, among other characteristics that discredited the letter, the inconsistent spelling of Mr. Ekpa’s last name in the salutation and the uncivil tone.
Ms. Pylvänäinen noted that her team had been working diligently to rectify this error. Twitter deleted the initial tweet after authorities in Helsinki, Finland, notified them.
She added, “sadly, screenshots and retweets now appear on different media,” and that it was regrettable to observe that numerous media outlets had distributed the letter based solely on its content.
Ms. Pylvänäinen reaffirmed that Finland and Nigeria have been in touch regarding Mr. Ekpa.
She was asked to a meeting by Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, at which she said she told them she couldn’t comment on the letter’s content. However, there are without a doubt contacts and communication. It’s everyone’s concern.
She said that Finland, as a member of the EU, cares a lot about the upcoming election in Nigeria and is going to help the authorities make sure it happens safely and securely in all parts of the country.
“We do not condone any violence, incitement to violence, or calls to halt the election. This is very much a shared interest and concern. Naturally, that cannot be right,” Ms. Pylvänäinen stated.
Source: PRIORITY TIMES