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The Business cost of misinformation in Nigeria

Nurudeen Akewushola
Nurudeen Akewushola
Reading Time: 5 min.
Fake news: Image by John Iglar from Pixabay
Fake news: Image by John Iglar from Pixabay

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ON 30 August 2026, a post began circulating on X claiming that OPay, one of Nigeria’s major fintech companies, was about to shut down its operations.

The message was presented as an official communication from OPay Digital Services Limited. It claimed that the company would go on an “indefinite break” from September 1 and advised customers to withdraw their money because transactions and account-related services would no longer be available. The notice was posted as an “Official Note from Opay Digital Services Limited” and urged customers to remove their funds.

OPay quickly denied the claim, telling customers that its operations remained unaffected and urging them to rely on its official communication channels.

It further urged its customers to rely only on communications published through its official pages, adding that users should verify social media posts before sharing them. 

However, the false claim had already spread widely across social media and messaging platforms, prompting concern among some customers. Some customers had even moved their money after the notice. OPay later held a Live Town Hall in Lagos to address the reports and reassure customers, merchants and other stakeholders that it remained fully operational.

The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) later arrested a suspect after a digital forensic investigation traced the origin of the claim to an X account. Police said the investigation was continuing.

But Opay is not the only Nigerian company that has suffered due to unverified misinformation. In July 2026, Access Bank also had to respond to a false social media message claiming that the bank was shutting down. The bank described the publication as false and said it had falsely impersonated its official communication channels. Access Holdings also notified the Nigerian Exchange that the publication was not authorised by the company and had been referred to regulatory, security and law enforcement authorities.

In 2023, a deluge of misinformation was spread regarding Palmpay, another Nigerian Fintech Company, prompting The FactCheckHub to do a series of fact-checks to debunk them. A series of misleading videos was posted on social media purportedly showing the company’s agents harassing customers. However, checks by The FactCheckHub show that the claims were not true, as most of the videos are either skits or totally unrelated to Palmpay.

Similar misinformation can affect businesses in less direct ways. In 2023, an unidentified woman allegedly contacted Airtel customers in Mumbai, falsely telling them that the prices of their postpaid plans were about to increase and encouraging them to switch to another network.

According to a report by Mid-Day, 419 Airtel customers changed networks after receiving the calls, resulting in an estimated loss of 483,000 Indian rupees to the company. Airtel reported the matter to police, who began investigating the alleged scheme.

The case shows how false information can move beyond damaging a company’s reputation to influencing actual consumer decisions.

In Nigeria, Airtel has also had to distance itself from false information circulated in its name. In 2019, a Facebook page called “Airtel Our World” claimed that Airtel was giving away 500,000 iPhones to customers who commented on its post.

The post was shared thousands of times before AFP fact-checked it and found that Airtel was not running such a promotion. Airtel told AFP that the page was not affiliated with the company and urged users to disregard the claim.

In September 2026, Nigerian X user Enori admitted using artificial intelligence to create a fake image purporting to show an itel power tank exploding. In an apology posted on social media, she said the image and the claim about the explosion were fabricated using AI.

“Hi, good morning, everybody. I made a post three days ago claiming that itel solar fan exploded and that it was overcharging, which I used AI to create. It didn’t happen, and I’m very, very sorry to the itel team and to the itel customers,” she said.

Her apology followed a warning by itel over the circulation of the AI-generated image. In a disclaimer issued on X, the company said it would not tolerate attempts to use fabricated content to discredit its brand or mislead customers.

itel said deliberate attempts to misrepresent the company through fabricated content, manipulated materials or false claims would attract appropriate legal action.

The company added that it would pursue available legal remedies where necessary to protect its brand, customers and reputation.

The cases show that misinformation can affect businesses in different ways, such as triggering customer concern, encouraging customers to leave a service, impersonating a company to attract consumers, or creating false evidence that a product is unsafe.

The immediate response is often the same. Sometimes the company has to stop what it is doing and correct the information, as seen in Opay’s case. But correcting a false claim is not always as simple as deleting the original post.

Once a claim has been copied, screenshotted and forwarded across social media and messaging platforms, the company has to reach people who may never have seen its original response. It may also have to reassure customers, monitor further mentions, involve regulators or law enforcement, and in some cases consider legal action.

Speaking with The FactCheckHub, Ayokunle Olubunmi, the Head of Financial Institutions Ratings at Agusto & Co, said misinformation can be particularly damaging to financial institutions because banking depends heavily on customer trust.

“For the business of banking, you have to pay attention to trust,” he said, explaining that a loss of confidence could trigger what is known as a bank run, where large numbers of depositors attempt to withdraw their funds at the same time.

“If there is what we call a run on the bank, where all the depositors are coming for their funds at the same time, the bank collapses,” Olubunmi said.

He said the impact extends beyond financial institutions, as false claims about businesses and their products can also damage their reputation and affect customer decisions.

Olubunmi advised businesses to maintain an active presence on social media so they can quickly respond to false claims and provide accurate information to customers.

However, he cautioned businesses against treating every negative online post as misinformation, noting that some complaints may reflect genuine experiences with a product or service.

“There’s a thin line that we need to be careful about,” he said, warning that businesses should not use their influence or security agencies to intimidate customers who raise legitimate complaints.

He said businesses should first engage with people making complaints, establish whether the claims are genuine and, where necessary, ask those responsible to remove demonstrably false information.

Olubunmi also urged authorities like the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to intensify public education on the dangers of misinformation, saying individuals need to be better equipped to identify and question information before believing or sharing it.

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Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.

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