World leaders are well adjusted to fighting political fires and tackling all manner of claims from media, opposing parties and public.
But Nigeria's president has been forced into publicly denying a most unusual rumour: that he is dead and has been replaced by a clone.
"It's real me, I assure you," Muhammadu Buhari told Nigerians during a conference he was attending in Kraków, Poland, when asked about the allegations.
"A lot of people hoped that I died during my ill health," Mr Buhari said.
Last year the Nigerian leader spent five months in the UK recovering from an unspecified illness. Following that lengthy stint away from his home, the whispers began.
Mr Buhari called those who had spread the rumours, including some of his political opponents, "ignorant and irreligious".
The 'Buhari is dead' tales circulated on social media, and included the detail that the Nigerian president had been replaced by a Sudanese lookalike named Jubril.
Mr Buhari jumped on his Twitter account last weekend to further reject the Jubril story.
"I can assure you all that this is the real me," Mr Buhari tweeted.
"Later this month I will celebrate my 76th birthday. And I’m still going strong!"
Nigeria heads to the election polls in February next year. Mr Buhari won the last election in 2015.
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