Bayelsa State governor, Douye Diri, has denied knowing a South African parliamentarian, Zanele Sifuba, who accused him of leaking her nude video.
The governor said he does not know, let alone have contact with Sifuba, who is currently facing the scandal of a leaked nude video in South Africa.
Sifuba, the Speaker of South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) Free State legislature, alleged that Diri is the mastermind of her leaked nude video.
She topped the trends list in South Africa after she was captured in the sex tape.
She claimed that Diri as her lover, lamenting that he betrayed her trust.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Sifuba accused Diri of leaking the video.
“This is the picture of the man who leaked our video. He is my lover whom I trusted. A Nigerian official, by name Douye Diri.
“I trusted him with my life, but he betrayed me. Please share for the whole world to know the kind of man he is,” Sifuba wrote with the photograph of the governor on it.
Several South Africans, groups and parties sympathised with her and condemned the circulation of her nude images and sex tape.
The scandal apparently started with the leakage of screenshots from the actual video as the nudes started making the rounds on October 31.
The Free State Legislature quickly responded by ordering an investigation into the Speaker’s sex scandal.
The development has exposed several Nigerians in South Africa to verbal attacks.
But the Director of New Media to the governor, Dr. Kola Oredipe, said through a statement on Saturday that Diri has not been to South Africa in the last 10 years.
Oredipe described media reports linking the governor to the trending story involving the female parliamentarian, Sifuba, as a mere distraction.
He pointed out that the Facebook account on which the post was made purportedly belonging to the woman was created on Thursday, November 10, 2022.
Oredipe said the scandal first appeared on the social media in South Africa on October 31, and was linked to an unnamed Nigerian youth.
He further noted that those behind the post twisted fake account bearing the governor’s image with the intent of tarnishing his image.
Wondering how Governor Diri would resort to blackmail for N8million, Oredipe urged the public to discountenance the story, which he described as untrue and lacking in merit.
The statement with the title: ‘Trending South African Sex Story: a mere distraction’, reads in part: “Our attention has been drawn to fake news circulating online about Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State over an alleged nude video leak of a South African female legislator, Zanele Sifuba.
“The post linking the governor to the allegation suddenly appeared on the Facebook page purportedly belonging to the woman after trending for more than a week.
“Our investigation, however, revealed that the said account is fake and was only created on Thursday, November 10, 2022.
“For a scandal that initially appeared on the South African media space on October 31 and was first linked to a ‘Nigerian youth,’ it is obvious that those behind the new twist opened the parody account with the deliberate intention to tarnish the image of the Bayelsa Governor.
“Sadly, even without any effort to confirm the ridiculous allegation against the governor of a State, a few Nigerian online platforms rushed to publish the fake news from the ‘Zanele Sifuba Facebook’ account without investigating its source.
“Let it be stated without any equivocation that Governor Diri does not know and has had no contact or relationship with the said woman at the centre of the scandal. He has also not been to South Africa in the last 10 years.
“While we have read about a purported attempt to collect R300,000 from her, the ‘young blackmailer’ is certainly not Governor Diri.
“Ask the question: why would a governor of an oil-rich State resort to blackmail for a mere R300,000 (about N8 million)? This is simply ridiculous.”
He said the political mischief-makers had gone on overdrive in their desperation to tarnish the reputation of a hard working, calm, peaceful and focused governor.
Oredipe said the story is just another failed attempt to distract the man that is single-minded on his developmental agenda for his State, and who has in the last six weeks, devoted his time and energy to managing the devastating flood that hit Bayelsa.