The pan Igbo socio-political organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has berated President Muhammadu Buhari for addressing the nation in Hausa language.

Buhari in his sallah message to Muslim faithfuls had spoken to Nigerians in Hausa, a situation that has caused outrage in the country.

The Presidency had released the audio to debunk report that Buhari was suffering from speech impairment.

Reacting to the audio message by Buhari, Deputy Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chuks Ibegbu said Nigeria has descended to the level of a ‘Banana Republic.’

Addressing newsmen in Enugu, on Sunday, Ibegbu said the authenticity of the audio message should be investigated.

According to Ibegbu, if the audio was found to be authentic, then there was a big problem.

He said, “First of all, we have to ascertain the veracity of the voice because in these days of technology, a lot of things can be cloned, including human voice.

“But if it is true that Mr. President addressed Nigerians in a local language, it means something is wrong somewhere.

“I want to believe that the voice is not real, but if it is Mr. President that actually spoke, then, it means that we have descended to the level of a Banana Republic.

“The Federal Government should tell Nigerians whether it is actually Mr. President’s voice, or not.”

The Ohanaeze spokesperson stressed that the address couldn’t have been meant for Nigerians if it was delivered in Hausa.

“Which message; message to who; in what language? Is Hausa our lingua franca? If Mr. President wants to address us, he should talk to us in English, which is our lingua franca,” he said.

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