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Please note that the FactCheckHub has not obtained any right from the authors or copyright owners of all third-party contents from embedded links and shall incur no liability in this regard.
Please note that the FactCheckHub has not obtained any right from the authors or copyright owners of all third-party contents from embedded links and shall incur no liability in this regard.
NIGERIA’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, February 16, 2023, addressed the nation on the redesigned naira notes amidst its scarcity and the government’s currency swap policy.
He said the naira redesign activities are within the ambit of the nation’s constitution.
“All these activities are being carried out within the ambit of the constitution, the relevant law under the CBN Act 2007, and in line with global best practice,” he stated.
Section 20(3) of the Act states that: “Notwithstanding Sub-sections (1) and (2) of this section, the Bank shall have power, if directed to do so by the President and after giving reasonable notice in that behalf, to call in any of its notes or coins on payment of the face value thereof and any note or coin in respect to which a notice has been given under this Sub-section, shall, on the expiration of the notice, cease to be legal tender, but subject to section 22 of this Act, shall be redeemed by the Bank upon demand.
THE VERDICT
The claim by Buhari that the activities of the naira redesign policy are being carried out within the ambit of the law is TRUE.
SOURCE: Central Bank of Nigeria
CLAIM 2
I have been reliably informed that since the commencement of this program, about N2.1 trillion out of the banknotes previously held outside the banking system, had been successfully retrieved.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said, as of October 2022, currency in circulation was ₦3.23 trillion out of which only ₦500 billion was within the banking industry and ₦2.7 trillion was held in people’s homes. According to him, since the commencement of the naira redesign policy, ₦1.9 trillion have been collected which records for 75 percent of the ₦2.7 trillion held outside.
THE VERDICT
The claim that ₦2.1 trillion held outside the banking system have been successfully retrieved is MOSTLY FALSE; a press statement by CBN on January 29, 2023, quoted the CBN Governor as saying only ₦1.9 trillion have been collected.
SOURCE: Central Bank of Nigeria
CLAIM 3
In 2015, when this administration commenced its first term, Currency-in-Circulation was only N1.4trillion.
According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria, as of May 31, 2015, the volume of naira notes in circulation in Nigeria was ₦1.66 trillion.
Buhari was sworn in for his first term as Nigeria’s democratically-elected President on May 29, 2015.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the naira currency in circulation in May 2015 was N1.4 trillion is FALSE; the actual figure was a bit higher.
SOURCE: Central Bank of Nigeria
CLAIM 4
As of October 2022, therefore, currency in circulation had risen to N3.23 trillion.
THE FINDINGS
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria show that as of October 31, 2022, the currency in circulation in Nigeria was ₦3.29 trillion. As of September 29, 2022, it was ₦3.24 trillion.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the currency in circulation as of October 2022 is ₦3.23 trillion is MOSTLY TRUE.
JOB cuts by major social media companies is affecting many teams saddled with the task of curbing misinformation and disinformation on those social platforms.
It will be recalled that major social media platforms have spent years in expanding their efforts to tackle misinformation since 2016 hiring policy experts while investing more technology to limit the reach of false narratives.
However, in recent months these platforms have had to cut down staff in charge of handling misinformation, the New York Times has reported.
The report stated that YouTube owned by Google fired two of its five misinformation experts, including the team’s manager leaving behind one person for political misinformation and two for medical misinformation.
It also shed two of its five policy experts who work on hate speech and harassment issues. These experts have played critical roles determining where the company’s acceptable and unacceptable content should be and advised executives on difficult content decisions.
The cuts also reflects across the industry that threatens to undo many of the safeguards that social media platforms put in recent years to ban disinformation.
Twitter under its new owner, Elon Musk has slashed its staff while Meta which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp has shifted its focus and resources to the submerging world of the Metaverse.
Faced with economic headwinds and political and legal pressure, these major platforms have showed signs that fighting false information online is no longer a priority, raising fears among experts who track the issue that it will further disintegrate trust online.
The president of the liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America, Angelo Carusone said “I wouldn’t say the war is over, but I think we’ve lost key battles.”
After years of efforts, he described a mounting sense of fatigue in the struggle. “I do think we, as a society, have lost the appetite to keep battling. And that means we will lose the war.” he added.
The companies maintain they remain diligent, but the efforts to combat false and misleading information online have declined at a time when the problem of misinformation remains as destructive as ever with an increase of alternative sites competing for users.
Meta recently restored the accounts of former President Donald J. Trump on Facebook and Instagram, barely two years after suspending him for inciting violence ahead of the storming of the Capitol.
Mr. Musk has also invited Mr. Trump back to Twitter, one of the many steps he has taken to dismantle many of the platform’s previous policies. The team that oversaw trust and safety issues — including misinformation — was among those eliminated under Mr. Musk’s leadership.
Researchers at Media Matters found several examples of Covid-19 misinformation being spread on YouTube Shorts, the platform’s service for minute-long videos, in the past week. They also found an array of videos that espoused hateful, misogynistic and transphobic views. Some were from well-known creators.
“YouTube and the other social media platforms are inconsistent in their enforcement of their policies,” Kayla Gogarty, the deputy research director for Media Matters, said.
YouTube said it was always working to strike a balance between allowing free expression and protecting online and real-world communities from harm. Nicole Bell, a spokeswoman for the company, said that YouTube removed six videos flagged by Media Matters for violating its policies, and it terminated a channel for uploading content from a banned creator. But most of the more than two dozen videos flagged by Media Matters did not break the platform’s rules, she said.
Last year, the International Fact-Checking Network, representing more than 80 organizations, warned in a letter addressed to YouTube that the platform was “one of the major conduits of online disinformation and misinformation worldwide,” and that it was not addressing the problem.
The consequences of easing up on the fight against misinformation have become clear on Twitter. A report by two advocacy groups, the Network Contagion Research Institute and the Combat Antisemitism Movement, found a surge in antisemitic content as Mr. Musk took over.
Nora Benavidez, senior counsel at Free Press, an advocacy group for digital rights and accountability, said the experience at Twitter showed that moderating offensive content remained important for the viability of platforms, regardless of economic considerations.
“Content moderation is good for business, and it is good for democracy,” she said. “Companies are failing to do that because they seem to think they don’t have a big enough role to play, so they’re turning their back on it.”
The majority leader of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Alhassan Doguwa, has claimed that the electoral law permits a contestant for the House of Representatives seat to possess at least N70 million “in cash” to cover his expenses for the election.
Doguwa, who is also the chairman of House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on the new naira redesign and naira swap policy made this claim on Thursday, February 16, 2023, after a meeting with Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja while expressing dissatisfaction over the scarcity of Naira notes.
“Now that the president has issued the directive, how do we ensure that the president’s directive is being carried out on the ground? This is what we came to iron out today,” Doguwa said.
He added: “No matter how professional a policy is, it is counterproductive if it induces suffering on Nigerians.
“A member of the House of Representatives is expected by law to have [no] more than N70 million naira to conduct his elections, logistics, and other things. The law has permitted me to have N70 million as logistics. I need to have this N70 million in hard copy.
“As I speak to you, I don’t have it, which means if this policy continues this way, if the central bank fails to make available this money, we need to fund our elections. Definitely, every candidate, no matter what party he belongs to, will be put at disadvantage.”
The Central Bank of Nigeria has insisted on February 10, 2023 deadline for the use of old naira notes despite the nation’s Supreme Court’s order that it should remain a legal tender.
In his nationwide broadcast on Thursday, President Buhari said while the old N200 note remains legal tender till April 10, 2023, the old N500 and N1,000 notes are redeemable at the CBN or designated cash swap centres.
CLAIM
Electoral law says contestants for House of Reps seat has to possess N70 million in cash.
To understand the legal requirements related to election expenses, we referred to the Electoral Act, 2022.
Section 88 (4) of the Act states that:
“The maximum amount of election expenses to be incurred by a candidate in respect of Senatorial and House of Representatives seat shall not exceed N100,000,000 and N70,000,000 respectively.”
However, the law does not stipulate the nature of these expenses or whether it should be in cash.
In addition, we presented Doguwa’s claims to Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, and asked for further clarity:
“The law does not say a House of Representatives candidate must or should have N70,000,000. No. It only states very clearly that they cannot spend more than N70,000,000 on election expenses.
“So, it is not correct for a candidate for the House of Representatives seat to say or insinuate that he or she is expected to have N70,000,000. That’s not what the law says,” Oyekanmi told our fact-checkers.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the Electoral law says contestants for House of Reps seat has to possess N70 million in cash is INCORRECT; the Electoral Act 2022 only stated that it is the maximum amount allowed to be incurred on election expenses by any federal legislative candidate, and neither did it specifically said it should be in cash.
A video showing some lawmakers at the entrance of Nigeria’s legislative complex in Abuja has circulated online with a claim that the Department of Security Services (DSS) has shut down the National Assembly.
In the video, some lawmakers were seen at the entrance of the complex lamenting over how DSS operatives led a siege there and prevented them from gaining entrance into the Hallowed Chambers.
The video has been going viral in several WhatsApp groups with a claim that the DSS recently shut down the national assembly.
A caption from the footage retrieved from a WhatsApp group by The FactCheckHub read:
“BREAKING NEWS: NIGERIA IS NOW IN A STATE OF ANARCHY/DICTATORSHIP. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN BY UNKNOWN FORCES AND TAKEN OVER BY DSS!”
The video has found its way into the Nigerian social media space. It has been shared by several Twitter and Facebook users with a similar caption as can been seen here.
A Twitter user, @vivoexpresswisp tweeted the video with a caption thus:
“As an ex General, Buhari is a step ahead of rubber stamp National Assembly. Now DSS have locked up National Assembly. How will they impeach Buhari now?I stand with Buhari and Emefiele. Old Naira notes must go!(sic).”
The tweet has garnered over 47,000 views with about 80 retweets as of Thursday, February 16, 2023.
A Facebook user, Lady K Ifeoluwa posted the video on Facebook with a caption that read:
“YAWA DON GAS, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HAS BEEN SHOT DOWN AND HAVE BEEN TAKEN OVER BY DSS. STATE OF ANARCHY BEGUN.”
The post has garnered more than 167,000 views, over 2,000 likes and about 940 comments as of Thursday, February 16, 2023.
CLAIM
Video shows DSS barring lawmakers from entering the National Assembly in 2023.
Screenshot of the viral video
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.
The FactCheckHub subjected the keyframes of the footage to multiple Reverse Image Search; the results revealed that the video has been online since 2018.
The video shows some lawmakers stranded outside the National Assembly Complex, as DSS officers stormed the legislative complex.
According to media reports, the masked operatives and officials of the Department of State Security Services who reportedly said they acted based on ‘order from the above’ barricaded the National Assembly entrance preventing lawmakers from entering the complex.
The leadership of the parliament was expected to meet on the day to deliberate on issues affecting the polity and the 2019 general elections and the N428 billion election budget proposal.
THE VERDICT
The video which showed lawmakers being barred from entering the National Assembly was from an incident that happened in 2018.
FULL Fact, a UK-based fact-checking organisation, has partnered with the Nigerian Fact-checkers Coalition (NFC) to promote credibility of information available in public space during Nigeria’s 2023 general elections.
The partnership will see the coalition partners access the Full Fact’s AI platform to source election-related claims for debunk before and during the election.
The coalition will also use the AI tool’s live transcription feature during live-checks for any election-related debates involving presidential and governorship candidates ahead of the elections.
This was contained in a joint press statement released on Wednesday, February 15, 2023.
“The project, made possible by a $2 million grant from Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, has already seen remarkable results. With the support of 7 dedicated technical Google.org Fellows who worked on a pro bono basis, Full Fact’s AI technology has seen a 1000x increase in claim detection (i.e. identifying which claims are most important to fact-check) and helped scale their fact-checks to appear in 237 million search results in 2020.
“The technology, developed by Full Fact since 2015, will now be used in a Nigerian election for the first time, offering instant transcription services and real-time fact-checking during debates, speeches and throughout the election process to increase the speed and accuracy of information dissemination.
“Full Fact will also provide ongoing training and support to its local fact-checking partners during the election process.
“Despite the emergence of organisations and initiatives aimed at countering the spread of misinformation and promoting accurate information in Nigeria, fact-checking still faces challenges such as limited resources and difficulties accessing information.
“However, with the help of AI technology, Full Fact is determined to make it harder for false and misleading claims to spread and erode trust in democracy.”
“Every vote should be an informed vote,” says Will Moy, CEO of Full Fact.
“We’ve seen first hand how bad information spreads during an election and it can’t be allowed to undermine democracy.
“Our AI tools, with support from Google.org, help fact checkers stay ahead of false claims and promote accurate information. We’re proud to support our partners in Nigeria during this important time,” Moy added.
“At Google.org, we’re dedicated to using our resources and technology to make a positive impact on society,” says Dawn Dimowo, Government Affairs & Public Policy Manager, Nigeria.
“Continuing our support for Full Fact in Nigeria is an exciting opportunity to help stop the spread of misinformation and promote accurate information during the election. This builds on our ongoing efforts to support local fact-checking initiatives. We’re proud to support this important project and make a positive difference in the world.”
Opeyemi Kehinde, Editor of FactCheckHub, said, “Using the Full Fact AI tool, built in collaboration with Africa Check, has enhanced our work ahead of Nigeria’s 2023 general election. Since we were onboarded, our team of fact-checkers and researchers at the Nigerian Fact-checkers Coalition (NFC) have been utilising the AI platform to source claims for debunking easily.
“The platform also comes in handy for our live checks of political town halls and debates for candidates, especially its live transcription feature, which we hope to utilise in the days before the election.”
Full Fact AI is a suite of robust, scalable software tools designed to assist fact checkers and organisations focused on promoting accurate information. The combination of artificial intelligence and human expertise enables Full Fact AI users to effectively combat misinformation while maintaining high standards of accuracy and credibility.
Full Fact AI provides three tools to Nigerian fact checkers: the Search tool, which helps identify the most significant statements to fact check each day by monitoring online media, social media, and RSS feeds; the Alerts tool, which informs fact checkers of repeat instances of previously fact-checked false information, allowing them to act quickly and insert accurate information into public discourse; and the Real-Time tool, which offers an instant transcription of election debates, interviews, and town halls, eliminating the need for manual transcription and providing a record of fact-checkable claims.
Kemi Busari, editor of Dubawa, said, “Full Fact AI has been very helpful in the lead up to the 2023 elections in Nigeria. I use the tools searching for claims and even identifying persistent spreaders of falsehood.
“These tools, combined, would further help us as fact-checkers to hold politicians accountable and help people access accurate information about the election.”
David Ajikobi, Nigerian editor at Africa check, said, “Full Fact’s AI Tools, which Africa Check helped develop, allow the coalition to monitor news websites, social media pages and transcribe live TV or radio to find claims to fact check.
“This has boosted the coalition’s resolve to significantly reduce the spread and impact of election-related misinformation and disinformation.”
During the course of the Nigerian elections, Full Fact AI will share fact checks, images, videos, and impact stories from their fact-checking service.
The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) in collaboration with the FactCheckHub on Tuesday, February 14, 2023 trained some teachers and students of Government Secondary School, Wuse Zone 3 in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital territory on fact-checking.
The capacity building session on fact-checking which targets staff and students of secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is part of the organisations’ aim at countering the spread of misinformation and disinformation in the country.
“We want our students and teachers to know that fake news spreads faster than good news and to understand how to identify them especially on social media,” says Mrs. Mary Ajibola, an Assistant Director at the FCT Secondary Education Board (FCT SEB), who represented the board’s director at the event.
During the sessions, teachers and students from the school were taking through step by step guide on how to identify fake news and phishing websites, digital archival system, image and video verification as well as online security.
The editor and Team Lead at the FactCheckHub, Opeyemi Kehinde, who led the facilitators, explained that fact-checking is the process of verifying information and ensuring that “what you’re reading is accurate.” He listed what can be fact-checked thus: misinformation, disinformation and malformation.
Other facilitators at the event include Shehu Olayinka, a Fact-checker and head of ICIR’s social media unit; Olugbenga Adanikin, a fact-checker and ICIR’s head of Investigation, and Nurudeen Akewushola, a fact-checker with the FactCheckHub.
The training emphasized the need for students and teachers to develop and deploy their critical thinking skills when consuming information from online platforms and how to verify the accuracy of such information.
Some teachers and students at the event expressed gratitude to the organisers as they revealed that the sessions enlightened them and thus will enable them to be more responsible with sharing information, especially on social media.
“I like the methodology that you are using. It is very interactive and very good. It is an outstanding programme,” says Suleiman Isah, a teacher at the school.
Some of the students who spoke also noted that the seminar has taught them how not to be purveyors of fake news and the need to always check sources of information they see, read or watch on social media platforms.
In her brief remark, the school’s Principal, Mrs. Funmilayo Kayode, thanked the organisers for putting up the training programme. She advised students to take advantage of the opportunity to develop more skills that are essential for survival in this information age.
Also speaking, Alfred Akerele, the Programmes Officer at The ICIR in his closing remarks, thanked the FCT Secondary Education Board and management of the school for making their teachers and students available for the training.
He noted that this is the pilot phase of the project, as more teachers and students across secondary schools in the FCT would be empowered through trainings to grow the fact-checking culture and encourage responsible online civic space in the country.
As part of their strategy to undermine Nigeria’s 2023 general elections, fake news merchants are now attributing unfounded statements to public figures to dissuade the Nigerian electorate, findings by The FactCheckHub have revealed.
As the elections approach, The FactCheckHub observed an increase in fabricated statements attributed to key public and influential figures in Nigeria. This has the tendency of distorting voters’ perspectives and ability to make informed decisions at the polls.
For instance, Nigerian music artiste, Charles Chukwuemeka Oputa, popularly called Charly Boy, tweeted a quote falsely attributed to the former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, saying tribalism is the problem of Nigeria.
The quote read:
“In 2019, Yorubas wanted President Buhari to resign and handover power to Vice President Osibanjo due to his health.In 2023, the same Yorubas are supporting Bola Tinubu whose health is worse than President Buhari’s health. 2023 general election has shown that North is not the problem of Nigeria but tribalism.”
When The FactCheckHub examined the claim, findings show that the quote was fabricated and didn’t emanate from Sanusi.
Screenshot of Charly Boy’s tweeted false attribution.
The FactCheckHub had earlier debunked a quote attributed to Sanusi, where he was purportedly analyzing the uniqueness of at least three presidential candidates contesting Nigeria’s 2023 election.
Sanusi is not the only one that suffers from the menace of identity theft in the hands of fake news merchants. Several false claims have also been attributed to the Nigerian Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, in the past despite the fact that he has always reiterated that he does not use social media, but expresses his views on national issues through the print media.
In 2021, a quote was falsely attributed to Soyinka where he purportedly said he would involve himself in politics and campaign for Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 25, 2023 election.
The viral statement, which was also found to be false, read:
“I have never involve myself in politics or campaign for any politician, but in 2023 I will involve in politics and campaign for longtime friend in 1993 Nadeco struggle. Nobel Laurel Professor oluwole soyinka.”
Recently, in his article titled “From Pope Benedict XVI to Jacinda Ardern: The Challenge of Poor Health versus National Leadership” published on Thisday newspaper on January 22, 2023, a reputable Nigerian professor, Bola Akinterinwa, fell for this misleading attribution and mistakenly quoted a fake statement attributed to Soyinka where purportedly said Northerners would continue to rule Nigeria. The claim was later debunked by the Nobel Laureate, in a rebuttal.
The trend of fake endorsements
With the 2023 general election few weeks away, The FactCheckHub has also observed an increase in false endorsements attributed to key public figures in the society.
In August 2022, a viral post falsely claimed that Soyinka endorsed Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) for the Nigerian presidency.
Just recently, a false claim that the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III (CFR) endorsed the presidential bid of the Labour Party’s candidate, Peter Obi also went viral online.
The false quote read:
“The problem of the North is from the north, not Peter Obi or an Igbo man, it will be worst and more deadly for the North if Tinubu wins, if they tell you an Igbo man is the problem of Nigeria, tell them Igbo man never rule Nigeria before and north is world poverty capital.”
Meanwhile, in a disclaimer by Bashir Adefaka, an aide to Sultan, he clarified that Sultan did not endorse Obi’s presidential bid.
In the same vein, a claim that Kanu Nwankwo, a former captain of the country’s national football team, Super Eagles, endorsed Tinubu also went viral online. Few days after the claim went viral, Kanu made a video on 27 January 2023 to debunk it.
In the video, Kanu says: “I am not a politician, I am a footballer” and asks people “spreading fake news” in his name to stop. He said he has not told anybody who to vote for in the election.”
A viral post also claimed that a former Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff and elder statesman, Theophilus Danjuma, endorsed Peter Obi.
Similarly, on October 26, 2022, the Atiku Presidential Campaign Organisation released a statement claiming that the influential London-based Economist magazine endorse the candidacy of Atiku Abubakar. The claim was also found to be false.
Cambridge Dictionary defines misattribution as the act of wrongly saying or thinking that someone or something has a particular quality or feature as a result of someone or something else.
In other words, giving the wrong person credit for doing something.
The best way to identify a false attribution is to question the source. Most false attributions don’t contain the source of information. Putting it in a context, a credible news should be able to answer the 5Ws (where, when, who, why and what) and 1H(how) questions. An attribution that doesn’t carry such information demands a sober scrutiny.
For instance, none of the social media users who posted the false attributions above disclosed their source(s) publicly and neither the information could be seen on any credible media platform.
As Nigerians go to their various polling units on February 25, 2023 to choose the nation’s next president, experts have posited that rising misinformation has the potential to undermine the election.
Lanre Olagunju, the fact-check editor at TheCable noted that there would be an increase in fake attributions as election approaches.
He stressed the need to understand the styles and medium in which the public figures disseminate information and air their views on topical issues.
“One thing that would help to clarify on such is to understand the styles. For instance, you would know how Wole Soyinka talks. I don’t even think he has a social media account in the first place. Obasanjo has no social media handle. Ibrahim Babangida is not on social media. So, when you begin to see quotes attributed to them online, you need to ask when did these people talked. What’s their style? ” he said.
Olagunju said purveyors of misinformation would be leveraging the credibility and wide influence of public figures to misinform people, especially in an election season.
On his part, Oluwatobi Odeyinka, a fact-checker with Ripples Nigeria explained that false attributions is a deliberate and well coordinated attempt by fake news merchants to tarnish the image of certain presidential candidates, or to sell certain candidates.
“As a fact-checker, the basic rule is to go back to the primary source of the public figure that the claim is attributed to, and check if the person made the claim; the context and things like that.
“Fact-checkers should be careful and look out for falsely attributed claims,” he added.
He urged the citizens to read from credible sources often to avoid falling victim to misinformation online.
“They should look more to credible and reputable media for news, and less to social media. When they see any news item on social media, they should try to cross check with credible news media,” he said succinctly.
A claim has circulated online that Tems is the first Nigerian female singer to win the Grammy Awards.
The claim, as published by an online newspaper, has also gone viral on social media platforms including Twitter.
It will be recalled that the Nigerian artist, Temilade Openiyi, professionally known as Tems, recently bagged the highly coveted Grammy Awards simply known as the Grammys.
She rose to prominence after she teamed up with another top Nigerian artist Wizkid on his song ‘Essence’ in October 2020.
Tems won the ‘Best Melodic Rap Performance’ category on February 5, 2023, for her role in ‘Wait for U’, the 2022 hit song by Future which also featured Canadian rapper and singer, Drake.
Damini Ogulu, popularly known as Burna Boy, was among the nominees for the 65th annual Grammy awards where he received a nomination for the song ‘Last Last’ in the Best Global Music Performance category.
Also, Yemi Alade a female Nigerian singer was recognized as she featured in the “Mother Nature Album” by Angelique Kidjo, which won Grammys in 2022.
CLAIM
Tems is the first Nigerian female singer to win Grammy awards.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
Checks reveal that Helen Folashade Adu, simply known as Sade Adu or Sade is the first female singer of Nigerian origin to win the Grammys.
The four-time Grammy-award winner also had 8 nominations for the prestigious award.
She won the ‘Best New Act’ in 1985; ‘The best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with vocal’ category in 1993; the ‘Best Pop Vocal Album’ category with “Lovers Rock” in 2001, and the ‘Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals’ category with the song “Soldier of Love” in 2010.
Born in Ibadan, Nigeria, to a Nigerian father, Adebisi Adu, and an English mother Anne Adu, on January 16, 1959, Sade is a singer and songwriter.
She had also won American Music Awards in 2002, Brit Awards in 1985, and Porin Awards in 2011.
THE VERDICT
The claim that Tems is the first Nigerian female singer to win Grammy awards is FALSE; Sade Adu won her first Grammys in 1985.
THE spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo, has shared a photo that shows an aerial image of crowd that reportedly attended the campaign of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the party’s flagbearer in Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election, in Sokoto state.
Keyamo, a lawyer and serving Federal Minister of State for Labour and Employment in the current APC-led Nigerian government, tweeted the image alongside three other photos taken at the event with a caption that read:
“More pictures from the mother of all rallies in Sokoto! The signs are all there for all to see! But they are playing! Make dem dey play!! In about a forth-night, the jungle will mature!!”
The tweet has garnered over 1 million views, more than 600 retweets and over 3,000 likes as of February 12, 2023.
Tinubu and his campaign team had on Thursday, February 9, 2023 held a rally in Sokoto state. The rally featured Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari and other APC stalwarts.
CLAIM
Photo shows crowd at APC campaign rally in Sokoto.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.
Screenshot of the tweet by Keyamo showing the misleading image.
The FactCheckHubfound out that a Nigerian news platform, PM News, also published the same image in its media report of the rally with a caption that read: Gargantuan crowd at APC’s presidential rally in Sokoto.
But a Google Reverse Image search of the photo shows that the aerial image was taken by Colin Hinkle, with the twitter username: @hinklecolin, an aerial photographer on July 31, 2021 at a 4-Day music festival in Chicago, United States popularly known as Lollapalooza.
In an interview with Business Insider Africa also published by Yahoo News on August 3, 2021, the photographer, Colin Hinkle said the image shows a large crowd who converged at the event in Chicago without wearing masks.
Hinkle said he is an aerial photographer who uses drones or helicopters to gather video or photos from aerial view.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the photo shows crowd at the APC rally in Sokoto is MISLEADING; the photo was taken at Chicago, USA in 2021.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
‘Misleading’ has been added to the headline to reflect our verdict.
NIGERIAN music artiste, Charles Chukwuemeka Oputa also known as Charly Boy, is fond of using manipulated videos and photos to promote the presidential bid of the Labour Party’s candidate, Peter Obi, a close monitoring of his social media accounts by the FactCheckHub has shown.
Checks by The FactCheckHub show that Charly Boy has over 197,000 followers on Twitter, more than 183,000 followers on Instagram and over 23,000 followers on TikTok.
He is one of the social media influencers popularly known for supporting the presidential candidacy of Peter Obi.
However, he has been caught several times sharing manipulated images and videos to deliberately misinform the public and has consistently failed to heed when his attention is drawn to such.
In November 2022, the celebrity shared a doctored video with a claim that it shows some American and Hollywood actors campaigning for Peter Obi.
The tweet read:
“Impressive. Peter Obi’s campaign has taken a global look with leading American TV and Hollywood actors driving the campaign.”
Screenshot of the tweet showing the doctored video.
When tweeps cautioned Charly Boy, another Twitter user, @NATIVITY backed him, saying that sharing manipulated videos and photos is part of the game.
“You all shouting it’s edited are really not ready for this politics. Other candidates forge birthday certificate, do drugs and post fake exercise video for proof of life, and all you do here is to say is fake, edited blah blah blah, who win politics with such hulalah?” he argued.
Meanwhile, findings by TheFactCheckHub show that the video has been online since 5 years ago.
An investigation by The FactCheckHub shows that the original version of the video was uploaded by WIRED on YouTube.
In the video, Mathew McCoughaney and Idris Elba were providing answers to what was described as “the web’s most searched questions” written on a placard.
However, the texts in the video were manipulated to read: “Yes, it makes sense to vote for Peter Obi in 2023” with a Nigerian map included.
Charly Boy: A serial merchant of disinformation
This is not the first time Charly Boy is using misleading videos and photos to misinform the public. Most times he uses this to put the Labour Party and Peter Obi in the limelight.
On October 28, 2022, he tweeted a photo showing the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, watching Peter Obi, on a television screen.
Screenshot of the tweet showing the doctored image.
Meanwhile, findings by The FactCheckHubshow that the original image shows Tinubu in an aeroplane staring at a TV screen on his way from the United Kingdom to Nigeria. However, there was nothing showing on the screen.
The FactCheckHub also reported how he shared a misleading video with a claim that it showed Peter Obi’s supporters in boats holding a campaign rally in riverine areas. When The FactCheckHub subjected the video to verification, it revealed that the claim was FALSE.
Similarly, The FactCheckHubreported how he made a false claim about the electronic transmission of election results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He was also found tweeting a fake quote social card, attributing the quotes to the former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.
Celebrities, Information Disorder and Election: Why Nigerians should be worried
Celebrities and other influential figures in the society, including religious and community leaders have a wider reach when it comes to information sharing. This makes it more difficult to correct if they spread or post false information via their platforms.
Recently, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) warned that the proliferation of electoral disinformation, misinformation and weaponisation of fake news, pose threat to the legitimacy of Nigeria’s 2023 general election.
The Centre noted that some people disseminate false information to discredit political opponents or to influence voters and the voting process.
It maintained that the spread and impact of disinformation is a global concern and a threat to the sustainability of democracy globally.
“Apparently, celebrities wield a huge lot influence when it comes to politics. That’s obvious with the Osun State elections and how Davido was super influential in his uncle’s victory. A lot of people are waiting for what the celebrities would say and even if it’s difficult to measure, you can easily guess that they do influence people’s decisions,” said Kunle Adebajo, a senior fact-checker and head of investigations at Humangle.
“This goes beyond because people are fond of them. It’s because they have a lot of followers, especially on social media. So, whatever they say goes a long way in shaping people’s opinions,” he added.
Adebajo urged entertainers and other social media influencers to be mindful of their posts and not create, share, or promote misinformation online.
“They need to be more responsible and understand the power that they wield and show accountability to people’s intelligence and the integrity of the electoral process by making sure that people are well informed and not disinformed.”
He further pointed out the need for social media platforms to limit the influence of influencers found wanting for sharing misinformation and stem the reach of their posts.
He posited: “The social media platforms also need to have more people looking into petitions about posts that may fall into the category of misinformation and also take more proactive actions in ensuring that such posts do not go viral or do not reach the timeline of thousands of millions of people thereby wreaking havoc before anything can be done.”
Adebajo further urged the association of musicians and other entertainers to incorporate social media use policy as part of their policy and gazette a sanction for members who breach it.
He added that electoral laws should demand transparency in political deals and should let people know if they are being sponsored for a certain post.
“Just the same way lobbyists in the US working for foreign organisations have to file details of the transactions, for example. So when you as a media organisation or an influencer with a number of followers receive money to do PR for a politician, there has to be full disclosure. People should be able to verify that you are getting paid for certain posts and know your likely motivations.”
“It might be difficult to implement, but I’m sure the regulators will find a way if they stay on the challenge,” he concluded.
On his part, Lanre Olagunju, the fact-check Editor at TheCable explained that celebrities are key stakeholders whom people look up to for genuine information citing this as a reason why they need to abstain from sharing false information.
“They are now the point of reference when it comes to information sharing and content management. It’s like those days when you ask people where they get information and they would say from NTA or Punch newspaper. That shows the credibility that people attach to such platforms.
“But these days when people see something on the handles of influencers, whether it’s true or not, they go for it and won’t even bother to check. Their pages are like pages of newspapers or Bible or religious books. Many people see things there they just take it like that, believing it has to be true. It’s quite unfortunate that some of them are now misleading people.”
He stressed that misinformation from influencers goes more viral due to their wide audience reach making it more difficult for fact-checkers to stop its virality.
“If an influencer shares misinformation with ten million people. Are you so sure that when you are fact-checking, your own fact-check would get 10 million views? That’s the challenge!” he pointed out.
He emphasized the need for fact-checkers to collaborate with social media influencers because information disorder has real-life consequences for the people that consume it.
He urged the citizens to always verify any information before sharing, regardless of their sources.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
The headline has been updated to include the word “candidacy”.
