The Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition (NFC) brings you a live check of election-related misinformation and disinformation spreading online and on television as results trickle in.
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This page is constantly being updated with verified checks.
Claim 19
CLAIM: A Twitter user claims that voting is yet to commence in some parts of Bayelsa at about 4 p.m.
FINDING: The NFC contacted an observer from Connected Development (CODE), Tare Amananaghan, who confirmed the report and added that the HOD of INEC’s Voter Education Publicity (VEP), Wilfred Ifogah, had informed earlier that the situation was due to a shortage of ballot paper.
As of 5 p.m, Amananaghan confirmed voting had commenced in many polling units affected.
VERDICT: CORRECT
SOURCE: CODE Observer
Claim 18
CLAIM: An online report has announced the death of the party chairman of Labour Party, representing Karshi District of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Valentine Onuigbo.
The chairman reportedly died in his sleep in the wee hours of Saturday, February 25, 2023.
THE FINDINGS: Spokesperson of the Labour Party, Yunusa Tanko, has confirmed the incident.
Newspapers such as Tribune, Vanguard and Prime Business Africa among others, have also confirmed the death.
VERDICT: CORRECT
SOURCES: Tribune, Vanguard, Prime Business Africa and Labour Party Spokesperson
Claim 17
CLAIM: Former senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Dino Melaye, in a Facebook post, claimed that thugs of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had been arrested in Kogi Central Senatorial district by soldiers.
THE FINDINGS: A Connected Development (CODE) observer on the field, Umar Mohammed, confirmed the incident occurred in Kogi Central around 11 a.m.
He also noted that one of the men arrested is an appointee of the APC government in Kogi State.
A reverse image search did not suggest the image existed earlier than February 25, 2023.
VERDICT: CORRECT
SOURCE: CODE Observer
Claim 16
CLAIM: A video that is circulating on social media showed the moment President Muhammadu Buhari voted for the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.
THE FINDINGS: President Muhammadu Buhari voted earlier today at Daura, Katsina state and had showed off his ballot papers. Screenshots from the video obtained by the NFC showed that the president actually voted for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress. The clearer versions of the pictures were also found here and here.
Also, in a tweet by the presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, Mr Buhari said he voted for Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the APC.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCES: Punch, The Cable, Premium Times
Claim 15
CLAIM: Simon Ekpa, a pro-Biafran agitator, claims voters are not out in Igweocha part of Rivers State to vote due to the IPOB’s sit-at-home order.
THE FINDINGS: An election observer affiliated with the Center for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) present at the Igweocha area debunked the news and confirmed that voting is currently ongoing in the area. NFC obtained visual evidence showing that election was ongoing.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCE: CJID Observer
Claim 14
CLAIM: A Twitter user, @Harmless12345 claimed that Buhari’s vote is void.
THE FINDINGS: His post has recorded nearly 80,000 views on Twitter. Several media reports, however, show that President Muhammadu Buhari displayed his ballot paper publicly after casting his vote for APC in his hometown, Daura, Katsina State. A critical look at the displayed Buhari’s thumbprint shows that it is properly placed and doesn’t exceed beyond the box.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCES: Premium Times, TheCable, Voice of Nigeria and others.
Claim 13
CLAIM: A Twitter user, Baron Chymaker (@chymaker) urged supporters of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to vote overwhelmingly in Abuja. The claimant stated that the presidential candidates of APC’s Bola Tinubu and PDP’s Atiku Abubakar wouldn’t be declared president if they failed to get 25% in the FCT.
THE FINDINGS: Section 133 of the Nigerian Constitution stipulates that a presidential candidate shall be deemed to have been duly elected if he has a majority of votes cast and “has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”
The law doesn’t state winning 25% of votes in Abuja is a condition for winning the presidential election. Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, said in an interview on Channels TV, “You don’t have to win the FCT; if you meet the requirement; that is two-thirds of the majority of states in the country.” He said courts have ruled that the FCT should be treated as a state.
VERDICT: MISLEADING
SOURCE: The Nigerian Constitution
Claim 12
CLAIM: Reno Omokri posted a graphic on his Instagram page claiming the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is leading with 25 per cent in 25 states.
THE FINDINGS: INEC is yet to post conclusive results on the presidential elections. INEC’s National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, told Channels TV at 3:45 pm on Sunday, February 26, 2023 that the electoral body will announce the full presidential election results at the national collation centre in Abuja.
VERDICT: MISLEADING
SOURCES: INEC, Channels TV
Claim 11
CLAIM: A Twitter user, Quinn (@Quinn_Tweets), shared an image showing the Labour Party is leading the polls by 36 per cent, followed by the PDP by 27 per cent and the APC by 24 per cent.
THE FINDINGS: A reverse image search shows it is a screenshot of an opinion poll conducted on January 27, 2023, by Nextier.
The viral image was shared after cropping parts showing it is a pre-election poll.
The poll was shared by Nextier on Twitter on February 5, 2023. Figures from INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV) show otherwise.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCE: Nextier
Claim 10
CLAIM: An online post claims that the Labour Party (LP) has called for the cancellation of the ongoing presidential election as INEC cannot upload results from the polling units into its server.
THE FINDINGS: LP, in a press release on its website, condemned the delay, but the party did not seek cancellation of the results.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCE: Labour Party’s website.
Claim 9
CLAIM: A Twitter account, PDP New Media (PDP_NEWMEDIA) claimed that the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abuubakar, has secured 25% in about 25 states.
THE FINDINGS: There has not been an official announcement of results by INEC at the national collation centre in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. At state level, only results from Ekiti State have been announced so far as of 2.15p.m. when this fact check was filed.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCES: Media reports
Claim 8
CLAIM: There have been viral claims that a Labour Party Chieftain, Pat Utomi, was held hostage by thugs at a collation centre in Victoria Island, Lagos state.
THE FINDINGS: Labour party spokesperson, Yunusa Tanko, has debunked the claim.
Similarly, PPRO Police State Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, told the NFC that he is unaware of the situation.
Pat Utomi also confirmed that “he is fine” and described the claim as false.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCE: Pat Utomi, Yunusa Tanko, Benjamin Hundeyin
Claim 7
CLAIM: A viral report claimed operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) stormed the residence of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), during the elections.
THE FINDINGS: When contacted, Wilson Uwajuren, the spokesperson of the EFCC, told the NFC that the agency only deployed officials to the polling stations to monitor the elections and did not visit the house of any candidate.
Also, Labour Party spokesperson, Yunusa Tanko, debunked the claim. We also found that the photo was that of EFCC officials’ visit to Ward C, PU 085 Alausa, Ikeja, on Saturday.
VERDICT: INCORRECT.
SOURCE: EFCC’s spokesperson, LP PCC spokesperson, Media report.
Claim 6
CLAIM: A Twitter parody account with the name Niyi Akinsiju and the username @Agbaakinlmodoye claimed APC has won four local government areas in Lagos state.
THE FINDINGS: A check on the INEC IReV portal by the NFC shows that the results posted by Akinsiju were misleading as the electoral body is yet to collate results for all the Wards/RA in the mentioned local government areas: Alimosho; Ikeja; Ajeromi-Ifelodun and Amuwo Odofin.
VERDICT: MISLEADING.
SOURCE: INEC IReV portal, Media Observer.
Claim 5
CLAIM: A viral claim circulated by social media users on WhatsApp and Twitter claims that INEC has extended elections in 16 states.
THE FINDINGS: Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman clarified that the news is not from the commission.
Additionally, INEC’s national chairman on voter’s education, Festus Okoye, debunked the news as fake. He stated that “INEC did not extend the voting period in 16 States. The narrative is fake and the public should disregard it entirely.”
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCE: INEC
Claim 4
CLAIM: A claim circulates on WhatsApp with results that APC and PDP are leading in Kwara, Ekiti, Osun, Ogun and Oyo states with 6,111,796 and 4,367,845, respectively.
THE FINDINGS: Results in the aforementioned states are still being collated, and the final results are yet to be announced as of 11.25a.m. of Sunday, February 26, 2023. Also, updates from multiple news platforms did not support this claim.
VERDICT: MISLEADING.
SOURCE: Multiple news sources
Claim 3
CLAIM: A Twitter user, Comrade Moh (@I_Am_marwa), claims Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed, Labour Party’s VP candidate, was voted only by his wife and children at his polling unit.
THE FINDINGS: The Labour Party’s VP polling unit is 021 at Tudun Wada ward in Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Based on reports by the Punch Newspaper and TheCable, there were 272 accredited voters at the polling unit.
PDP won the polling unit with 102 votes, followed by the APC with 98 votes, while LP came third with 54 votes, and the NNPP secured 11 votes.
VERDICT: INCORRECT.
SOURCE: Punch and TheCable Newspapers
Claim 2
CLAIM: An APC supporter with the Twitter username @Tinubufrontier claimed Bola Tinubu had won about seven local government areas in Yobe State.
THE FINDINGS: Anna Charles, a media observer affiliated with the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), told the NFC that the results bandied around on social media were false as official results had yet to be compiled at the collation centre.
VERDICT: INCORRECT.
SOURCE: CJID Observer
Claim 1
CLAIM: An APC supporter with the Twitter username @DOlusegun claimed TheCable’s report on LP performance at Gbajabiamila’s polling unit is false.
THE FINDINGS: Our findings showed that the result uploaded by TheCable Newspaper is for the presidential election in which the Labour Party polled 89 as against the APC’s 69. A journalist affiliated with the Center for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) confirmed this to the NFC.
The social media user mistook it for the result of the Senatorial election, where the APC topped the chart.
VERDICT: MISLEADING.
SOURCE: Media Observer, News report.
*This live-check was jointly researched and written by members of the Nigerian Fact-Checkers’ Coalition (NFC): Nurudeen Akewushola, Faith Abeka, Fatimah Quadri (FactCheckHub); Rosemary Ajayi (Digital Africa Research Lab); Daniel Adaji (The Insight); Elizabeth Ogunbamowo, Lois Ugbede, Cole Praise, Silas Jonathan, Temilade Onilede, Lateef Sanni (Dubawa); Catherine Adeniyi, Motunrayo Joel, Allwell Okpi, Seyi Awojuyigbe, Fatimah Abubakar, Abisola Olasupo (Africa Check); Rejoice Ewodage, Hannah Ajakaiye (FactsMatterNG), Shehu Olayinka and Bamas Victoria (The ICIR).
It was edited and approved for publication by Kemi Busari, Caroline Anipah, Simbiat Bakare (Dubawa), David Ajikobi (Africa Check), Ajibola Amzat, and Opeyemi Kehinde (FactCheckHub).
Editor’s Note: These checks were compiled by The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR)
