Circulating like wild fire in the Nigerian and African media space is the news that Trump has set up an economic advisory team, consisting of 16 businessmen, who are mostly billionaires, and one of whom is Nigerian.

Fact check 1

President-elect, Donald Trump has set up an advisory forum, indeed. He calls it the ‘President’s Strategic and Policy Forum’. It is made up of 16 business leaders, two of whom are women: Ginny Rometty, CEO of IBM and Mary Barra, CEO of General motors (GM), and one Nigerian.

The members of the forum are: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, CEO General Motors (GM) Mary Barra Robert Allen “Bob Iger” of Disney and it will be chaired by Stephen Schwarzman, the billionaire co-founder of private equity giant Blackstone Group , Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, Doug McMillon, the recently appointed CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM, Toby Cosgrove, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, Boston Consulting Group’s Rich Lesser, EY’s Mark Weinberger, IHS Markit’s Daniel Yergin, Adebayo Ogunlesi, chairman of Global Infrastructure Partners, Paul Atkins of Patomak Global Partners, Former CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch, Former CEO of Boeing BA -0.09%, Jim McNerney and Former Fed governor Kevin Warsh.”

A President having an advisory group is not new, Obama had in his first term an Economic Recovery Advisory Board. And in 2011, he created the President’s Council On Jobs And Competitiveness, chaired by General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt.

President-elect Trump’s forum is a coalition of “CEOs and business leaders who know what it takes to create jobs and drive economic growth.” My administration is committed to drawing on private sector expertise and cutting the government red tape that is holding back our businesses from hiring, innovating, and expanding right here in America, Trump said. Essentially, the forum has been set up to advise Trump on the different ways he can create jobs, and grow America’s economy, thereby fulfilling his promise to the American people to  Make America Great Again.

Fact check 2

Contrary to popular reports splitting the media waves, this ‘President’s Strategic and Policy Forum’ is not a cabinet appointment. Trump’s forum is not a political portfolio.

The United States cabinet makes provision for the Council of Economic advisers. This department has cabinet rank status.

Before you begin to jump for joy, kindly note that Donald Trump’s ‘President’s Strategic and Policy Forum’ is not the same thing as Council for Economic advisers. The Council of Economic Advisers came into being by an Act of Congress (Employment Act of 1946). By virtue of that Act, only three persons make up the council. The current composition of the Council includes Chairman Jason Furman, Sandra Black and Jay Shambaugh.

As for Trump’s forum, it’s a 16 man committee. Also, the nomenclature is different. If by law, you are required to call a thing by a certain name, then by God, that’s what the name will be. So no, President Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum is not a cabinet position and Adebayo Ogunlesi, esteemed though he may be, is not a member of Trump’s cabinet. Neither are the other members, for that matter.

Fact check 3

Adebayo Ogunlesi is not a billionaire. Forbes 2016 list of The World’s billionaires does not have Mr. Ogunlesi’s name on it. The only three Nigerians on that list are Dangote, Alakija and Adenuga. Adebayo Ogunlesi is the chairman and managing partner of Global Infrastructure Partners, an infrastructure firm. He also purchased Gatwick Airport in 2010, a 2.4 billion dollar acquisition. He is an investment banker, super rich, but he is not a billionaire, at least not by any evidence available to us. The only  billionaire in Trump’s forum is Stephen Schwarzman, who ranks #117 on Forbes real time ranking list of the world’s billionaires with a net-worth of $10.4 billion.