A VIDEO circulating on social media claims that gunshots were being fired during the just-concluded Osun State governorship election.
The claim was posted on X by a verified user, @phillipfayem, with a caption alleging that gunshots were fired during the polling exercise.
“Gun shot during Osun State election.”
The post circulated online with the hashtag #OsunDecides2026.
As of August 17 2026, the post had garnered over 10800 views, 34 reposts, and over 30 comments.
READ: LIVE-CHECK: Osun 2026 governorship election
CLAIM
A video shows gunshots fired during the Osun State governorship election.
FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.
A keyframe extraction and reverse image search conducted on the video by The FactCheckHub revealed that the footage was old and was not recorded in Osun State.
The clip was originally posted on November 17 2024 by a Facebook account known as KOIKIMEDIA. According to the accompanying caption, the video originally captured an outbreak of violence during the Ondo State governorship election held in the Idanre Local Government Area on November 16 2024.
The old footage was recycled and falsely reshared to create a misleading impression of electoral violence during the Osun State election.
The Osun State governorship election, which was conducted on August 15 2026, was marred by a heated process.
The ICIR reported instances of political clashes at polling stations, vote-buying involving cash incentives across several local government areas, and security irregularities, including allegations that voting materials were carted away in areas such as Modakeke.
Despite all these, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) concluded the electoral process and declared Ademola Adeleke the winner of the Osun State governorship election.
While physical confrontation broke out at polling units in the state, the video in question was unrelated to the election.
VERDICT
The claim that the video shows gunshots being fired during the Osun State governorship election is MISLEADING; the footage is recycled content from the November 2024 Ondo governorship election in Idanre.
Seasoned writer and literary curator, Zainab Abdulrasaq is a factchecker for The FactCheckHub in an effort to combat information disorder. She can be reached on IG @blackbookishgirl or zabdulrasaq@icirnigeria.org
