The Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) has released a statement denying the reports that the commission has made Nollywood actress Tonto Dikeh their ambassador.
The commission in their statement described the actress’s claim that she has been made the ambassador of the NCPC as “spurious” and wishful thinking and urged Nigerians to discard the claims.
A part of the NCPC statement reads:
“The fact remains that the Executive Secretary of NCPC never appointed King Tonto Dikeh an Ambassador of Peace for NCPC and this was not part of her visit therefore this claim by her is spurious, unfounded and should be discarded and seen by all Nigerians as a figment of her imagination.”
According to the commission, Tonto Dikeh only paid a courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission, Reverend Yakubu Pam on Thursday, February 25, and later went ahead to claim she has been made an ambassador of the commission.
The actress shared phtotos of the visit on her Instagram page and wrote:
“I NOW BE PROUD NIGERIA CHRISTIAN PILGRIM COMMISSION(NCPC) AMBASSADOR FOR PEACE BUILDING….”
The full press statement released by the Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission on February 26 reads:
The Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission NCPC wishes to state in categorical terms that King Tonto Dikeh paid an official courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission Rev Yakubu Pam on 25th February, 2021 at the corporate headquarters of the Commission in Abuja.
As the founder of Tonto Dikeh Foundation, she expressed her willingness and interest in partnering with the Commission in the area of peacebuilding. She equally cashed in on the visit to commend the NCPC boss for his positive and relentless peace initiatives across the country.
However, we are suddenly inundated with claims from King Tonto Dikeh herself that she has been officially appointed as Ambassador of peace by this great Commission. This claim has gone virile in the media. The Commission frowns at this claim which is a clear misrepresentation of what transpired.
The fact remains that the Executive Secretary of NCPC never appointed King Tonto Dikeh an Ambassador of Peace for NCPC and this was not part of her visit therefore this claim by her is spurious, unfounded and should be discarded and seen by all Nigerians as a figment of her imagination.
Nevertheless, we appreciate her desire to partner with us in our peacebuilding initiatives and in the area of pilgrimage sponsorship to the Holy Land.
Signed:
Celestine Toruka
Head Media and Public Relations NCPC
26th February, 2021.
