Home Blog Page 125

Five false claims made by Atiku in the last two years

Nurudeen Akewushola
-
0
Five false claims made by Atiku in the last two years

DURING election seasons, Nigerian politicians often make several claims about critical issues, especially on economy and governance, in a bid to convince the citizens that they are fit for political offices. But when subjected to verification by fact-checkers, some of these claims have been found to be inaccurate – a development that further exposes the public to misinformation.

As the 2023 elections beckon, one of the top contenders aiming to succeed the current Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, is former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

In this analysis, The FactCheckHub recounts five out of several times that the PDP presidential candidate made misleading claims while speaking about his plans for the country.

As a non-partisan platform, it will be recalled that The FactCheckHub had also reported the four misleading claims Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, made this year.

1. Did Abraham Lincoln run up to five to six times before becoming US president?

Speaking during an hour-long pre-recorded interview with Arise TV aired on July 22, 2022, Atiku, while defending the reason why he decided to re-contest for the presidential seat, having failed four times, said the 16th US president, Abraham Lincoln “ran up to five, six times before becoming the president of the United States”.

READ” Nigeria to partner UNESCO to tackle fake news in rural areas

But a fact-check by AFP shows that Abraham Lincoln never contested the presidential election five or six times as Atiku claimed. 

Even though Lincoln failed to win various elections, he only ran for president twice and won both. He won his first bid for the presidency in 1860 and was re-elected in 1864, thus making Atiku’s claim FALSE.

2. There is no law stopping public officers from doing business in Nigeria

When asked about the source of his wealth during the interview, Atiku explained that he ran a private transportation business when he was employed as a Nigerian Customs official.

“The fact that you are a public officer does not stop you from engaging in business,” he said.

He further added: “There is no law which says you cannot engage in a legitimate business because you are a public officer. No law”.

However, when the claim was fact-checked by The Cable, findings show that his claim is FALSE.

Section 6(b) of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and Tribunal Act only allows public servants to engage and participate in running a farm, either subsistence or commercial.

Similarly, section 2 (b), Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule of the Nigerian Constitution says a “public officer” cannot “engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade” except if “he is not employed on full-time basis.”

3. Does the oil sector represent 20 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP?

Responding to a question about his plans to lift Nigerians out of poverty during the interview, Atiku said that “Oil only maybe accounts for about 20 per cent of our GDP, the bulk of our GDP is non-oil.”

But the fact-check by The Cable revealed that the claim is FALSE.

According to the latest data from Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the oil sector actually contributed even less than 6.63 per cent of the country’s GDP in the first three months (Q1) of 2022. 

In fact, the sector’s contribution has remained below 10 per cent since the last quarter (Q4) of 2017.

4. Does Nigeria have the highest unemployment rate on earth?

In a Twitter thread posted on his verified handle: @atiku on March 28, 2021, and titled: ‘World’s Highest Unemployment Rate: Time To Help This Government Help Nigeria,’ Atiku claimed that Nigeria had the highest unemployment rate in the world.

Part of the tweet reads: “In a situation where we are simultaneously the world headquarters for extreme poverty, the world capital for out-of-school children, and the nation with the highest unemployment rate on Earth, there is a very real and present danger that we might slip into the failed states index – God forbid!”

When this claim was fact-checked by The FactCheckHub, however, findings show that it is FALSE.

The most recent data from the NBS as of when this claim was made was for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020. This data put the country’s unemployment rate at 33.3 percent for a labour force population of 69.8 million and a total unemployed population of 23. 2 million people.

However, the NBS stated that using the international metric, Nigeria’s unemployment rate would be 17.5 per cent.  This puts Bosnia & Herzegovina and Namibia at the top of the list with 33.7 per cent and 33.4 per cent respectively.

Similarly, the ranking done by Trading Economics also listed Bosnia & Herzegovina and Namibia at the top with  33.89 per and  33.4 percent respectively.

Also, data presented by The World Bank in January 2021 revealed that Nigeria’s unemployment rate which stood at nine per cent did not top the table list. South Africa had 28.5 per cent rate; Botswana, 17.2 per cent; Libya, 18 per cent; Gabon, 20.5 per cent, and Namibia, 20.4 percent.

This, among other diverse sources presented above, made Atiku’s claim on Nigeria’s unemployment rate at that time FALSE.

5. Did Nigeria clear off her debt between 1999 – 2007?

On October 2nd, 2020, the former Vice President claimed that Nigeria paid off her entire external (foreign) debt and maintained 6% GDP growth between 1999 and 2007.

Atiku made the claim in a viral tweet posted via his verified Twitter handle.

ALSO READ: False claim circulates that Atiku is retiring from politics, congratulates Tinubu

The tweet reads: “Between 1999 and 2007, Nigeria paid off her entire foreign debt while maintaining an unprecedented 6% annual GDP growth. Those were periods of national restoration, and I am very proud of the work President Obasanjo and I did for this nation we care so much for. Facts don’t lie.”

However, a fact-check by The ICIR revealed that the claim is FALSE.

According to Nigeria’s Debt Management Office, the nation’s external debt stock as of the 31st of March, 2007 was approximately $3.29 billion which later climbed to $3.65 billion by the 31st of December, 2007. Therefore, Atiku’s claim that Nigeria paid off her entire foreign debt between 1999 – 2007 is FALSE.

2023 polls: Nigerian fact-checkers warn politicians against misinformation

Nurudeen Akewushola
-
0
2023 polls: Nigerian fact-checkers warn politicians against misinformation

A coalition of fact-checkers working in Nigeria has issued a strong warning to politicians to abstain from misinformation and disinformation as the 2023 general election draws closer.

The coalition consists of Africa Check, Dubawa, FactCheckHub, FactsMatterNG, Daily Trust, The Cable, Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR).

In a statement signed for the coalition by the Editor of FactCheckHub, Opeyemi Kehinde, the coalition described misinformation and disinformation as a threat to the credibility of the 2023 general elections and urged politicians to ensure that their claims are accurate during public debates.

Part of the statement reads, “The election season is here, and the narratives are building up around candidates, political parties, and issues. 

“As a result, the media, especially social media, is awash with loads of information aimed at pushing one political agenda or the other. There are claims and counter-claims, some of which advance existing ethnic and religious narratives and engender distrust among Nigerians.

READ: Limited human resources is hindering fight against misinformation -Report

“This is an appeal from us, fact-checkers working in Nigeria, to you, politicians, whether you are contesting the 2023 elections or not. It is the duty of all citizens to ensure that this seventh general election since 1999 is credible by all standards. And you play a significant role in this; hence this open letter is addressed to you. 

“We – the Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition – are committed to non-partisanship and fairness and are bound by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).”

It stated that the coalition has internal processes and methodologies which mandate its members to present factual, fair, independent and objective reports devoid of personal biases and opinions.

“We are independent and apolitical; we are neither for any political candidate nor party,” it added.

While noting that ensuring accuracy in public debates is good for the society, the coalition warned against misinformation and misleading statements that could derail efforts to deepen Nigeria’s democracy.

The coalition further stressed its commitment to fight against misinformation and disinformation schemes on social media and in public debates.

“It is a fact that disinformation and influence peddling are threats to Nigerians having a credible election in 2023. We have already seen an increase in the circulation of misinformation that can sway public opinion about candidates and parties and influence voters. It is a dangerous trend. 

“Democracy thrives when the outcome of elections truly reflects the informed choice of the people, devoid of deceit and manipulation. 

“Disinformation has affected elections in several countries. For example, during the 2017 French presidential elections, a duplicate version of the Belgian newspaper, Le Soir, was created to include a false article claiming that Emmanuel Macron was funded by Saudi Arabia.  

“In Brazil, a study found that the winner of the 2018 presidential election, Jair Bolsonaro benefitted from a disinformation scheme on WhatsApp. Bolsonaro’s supporters distributed doctored photos of senior Workers Party members celebrating with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, thereby portraying them as radicals. This may have influenced the outcome of that election. 

“One of the most prominent examples in Nigeria is the Cambridge Analytica case, where the organisation was contracted to target election content in favour of a candidate in the 2015 presidential election.

We can’t do this alone: Nigerian fact-checkers teamed up to debunk politicians’ false claims at this year’s election

“Cambridge Analytica was also used in Kenya in 2013 and 2017. As the country heads for another election in August, there have been cases of social media influencers and ordinary citizens being paid to spread false and misleading narratives.

“In all these, it is important to note that it is not enough for you to avoid making false claims and spreading misleading information, you must take responsibility for debunking false information related to your candidacy or your party, even if it advances your campaign.

“We are watching. We are monitoring the media to spot misinformation and call out disinformation schemes.

“Ensuring accuracy in public debate is for the good of society. We invite you to join the fight against the spread of misinformation this election season. You owe it to the people you desire to serve to provide accurate information and ensure they are not deceived or intimidated as they head to the polls.

“In the words of a former United Nations secretary-general, Kofi Annan, “Deepening our democracy is a crucial struggle, not just for our future prosperity and peace, but also for our fundamental human aspiration to live as free men and women. At the end of the day, what matters is not so much which candidate or which party wins an election, as long as the country wins.

“Elections are not a do-or-die affair. Let’s do it for posterity,” the statement read.

Four misleading claims Tinubu made in 2022

Raji Olatunji
-
0
Four misleading claims Tinubu made in 2022

FORMER Lagos State governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had officially declared in January his intention to run for Nigeria’s presidency in the 2023 general elections.

Tinubu, who is a national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), obtained the presidential interest and nomination forms in April and took part in the party’s primary held in June 2022.

Luckily for him, he beat Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Ahmed Lawan, Amaechi, and 10 others, to secure the party’s presidential ticket after he polled the highest votes.

However, Tinubu has been in the eyes of the storm for alleged perjury and irregularities in the documents submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

As part of the build-up to the presidential polls set to hold in February next year, The FactCheckHub highlights some of the misleading claims made by the APC flag-bearer this year, as reported.

Misleading claim about Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs)

Tinubu, while speaking to members of the APC in January 2022, claimed that the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had expired.

He told the party members who visited him in Abuja that they needed to register for a new PVC as he claimed the ones with them had expired.

READ: How disinformation actors fuelled violence, voter apathy in Imo governorship election

“In case they do not announce to you on time, the PVC you have has expired,” he said.

Nigeria’s electoral umpire, INEC, reacted, faulting the claim by the APC chieftain.

The Chief Technical Adviser to the Chairman of INEC, Professor Bolade Eyinla reiterated that PVCs earlier issued by the Commission remain valid.

“This information is not correct. The PVC issued to all previously registered voters remains valid. This kind of statement will certainly push eligible voters to register more than once, thereby creating the problem of double and multiple registrations,” he said.

Misleading claims about federal allocation and Lagos’ economic status

The APC chieftain had, during an interview in April 2022, claimed that he received zero allocation from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) while he was the governor of Lagos State.

Also, he claimed that Lagos State rose to be the largest economy in Africa despite the lack of funds from the federal government.

“With zero allocation from FAAC, I turned Lagos State around and today, the state has become the largest economy in Africa,” he claimed.

While fact-checking the above, Dubawa’s findings faulted the two claims by Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The allocations claimed to be seized by FAAC, were reported to be the local government council funds withheld in 2004, which was already five years into Tinubu’s eight-year administration (1999-2007).

The then Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, had withheld the local government funds in 2004 due to the creation of Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) by the Lagos State Government. But it was soon released by the late Umar Musa Yaradua after he became president in 2007.

Therefore, the first claim by Tinubu was misleading as the withheld funds were local government council allocations.

On the second claim, findings revealed that there were no significant facts to show that Lagos State became the largest economy in Africa.

It was, however, found that Nigeria remains the largest economy in Africa, which made Tinubu’s claim to be false.

False claim that he brought Econet Wireless to Nigeria

Tinubu claimed that he was the one who brought one of the leading mobile telecommunications companies, Econet, now known as Airtel to Nigeria.

He disclosed this in an interactive session with the APC presidential screening committee in May 2022.

While speaking before the panel, he said, “Telecommunication that is nonsense in Nigeria today, I brought Econet, Econet is now Airtel.”

However, findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim by the APC presidential candidate was not true.

The findings revealed how a Zimbabwean, Strive Masiyiwa, brought Econet to Nigeria.

Masiyiwa, who was the founder and Executive Chairman of the Econet Group, founded Econet Wireless in 1993.

ALSO READ: TB Joshua: Video of Tinubu criticizing BBC documentary is doctored!

Masiyiwa fled his country in March 2000 over persecution from the Zimbabwean authorities.

Thereafter, Econet Wireless Nigeria Limited, alongside MTN Nigeria and NITEL, received digital mobile licences from the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) in March 2001 after paying $285 million as license fees.

Following the purchase of the GSM license, Econet was faced with financing challenges, which made it sell 30% of its shares to the Lagos, Delta, and Akwa Ibom state governments.

Masiyiwa claimed that Econet was frustrated out of Nigeria for its failure to pay bribes to investors.

The issue later degenerated into the selling off of Econet to Vodacom in 2004.

Reno Omokri makes false claims about terrorism in Nigeria, Lagos’ debt

Nurudeen Akewushola
-
0
Reno Omokri makes false claims about terrorism in Nigeria, Lagos’ debt

SPEAKING during a virtual interview with Arise TV on the 9th of August, 2022, Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan said that Nigeria is currently ranked as the third most insecure country in the world according to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI).

Omokri, who claimed Nigeria was the fourth most insecure country under Jonathan’s regime, said the ranking has climbed up under the incumbent president, Muhammadu Buhari.

“Let us focus on the fact. Neither the APC nor the PDP is in the position to judge about security. There is one global body that has the authority and it is an international body- the Global Terrorism Index. The Global Terrorism Index has said under PDP government of the former president Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria was the 4th most insecure country in the world. However, under this administration, it is now worse, we are the 3rd most insecure country in the world. That would say a lot,” Omokri said.

Speaking further, Omokri claimed that Lagos state owes billions of dollars and that it accounts for 12.6% of Nigeria’s total debt.

READ: Misleading 2020 global terrorism ranking resurfaces online

“Bola Tinubu met a debt in Lagos of less than 100 million dollars. Right now, Lagos is so indebted. Lagos owes billions of dollars. As a matter of fact, Lagos alone owes 12.6% of Nigeria’s total debt. So, if you look at the IGR and compared it to the debt, that is a loss,” Omokri stated.

CLAIM 1

Nigeria is currently ranked as the third most insecure country in the world according to Global Terrorism Index (GTI).

THE FINDINGS

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.

The Global Terrorism Index by the Institute for Economics & Peace provides a comprehensive summary of the key global trends and patterns in terrorism over the last 14 years. The report ranks 163 countries (99.7 per cent of the world’s population) according to the impact of terrorism. The indicators include the number of terrorist incidents, fatalities, injuries and hostages.

The GTI report is produced using data from Terrorism Tracker and other sources. Terrorism Tracker provides event records on terrorist attacks since 1 January 2007. The dataset currently contains over 60,500 terrorist incidents from 2007 to 2021.

It summarises trends in terrorism over time and analyses its changing patterns in terms of geographic activity, methods of attack, organisations involved and the national economic and political context. The index has also been compared to a range of socio-economic indicators to determine the key factors most strongly associated with terrorism.

According to GTI report, Nigeria has maintained its 4th position as the country most impacted by terrorism worldwide since 2017. However, its latest ranking released on the 4th of March, 2022 shows that Nigeria dropped two places from the 4th to 6th position following successes recorded in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents.

 

Nigeria’s ranking on the Global Terrorism Index from 2011-2021.

The report indicated a decline in the number of terrorism-related deaths in Nigeria. It attributed this to the death of Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, and the Nigerian government’s efforts to defeat the group.

ALSO READ: Claim that Nigeria ranked 3rd on Global Terrorism Index 2020 is MISLEADING

Buhari became Nigeria’s president on May 29th, 2015 after defeating former president Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election. From 2011 until then, Jonathan was Nigeria’s president. In 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 when Jonathan left the office, Nigeria was ranked 8th, 5th, 5th, 3rd, and 2nd positions respectively as the most impacted by terrorism worldwide. This contradicts Omokri’s claim that Nigeria was in the fourth position under Jonathan’s regime.

THE VERDICT

The claim that Nigeria is currently ranked as the 3rd most insecure country in the world according to the GTI is FALSE, as Nigeria is currently ranked as the 6th most insecure country in the world based on the 2022 Global Terrorism Index.

 

CLAIM 2

Lagos accounts for 12.6% of Nigeria’s total debt.

THE FINDINGS

Nigeria’s total debt is usually categorized into two, namely: Domestic debt and External debt.

According to the latest report by Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO), Nigeria’s total public debt (federal and state governments) hit N41.6 trillion at the end of the first quarter (Q1) of 2022. The amount represents the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the thirty-six state governments, and the FCT.

Total external debt stood at N16.6 trillion (39.94%) while the total domestic debt stood at about N24.9 trillion (60.06%). The Federal Government only accounts for N20.1 trillion of the total domestic debts representing 48.42% while the states and the Federal Capital Territory account for N4.8 trillion which represents 11.64%.

Lagos State led the list of most indebted states in Nigeria with N780.48 billion domestic debt as of March 2022. When compared to the country’s total domestic debt (N24.9 trillion), Lagos only accounts for 3.1%.

Also, when compared to the Nigeria’s total public debt, Lagos accounts for only 1.9%.

THE VERDICT

The claim by Omokri that Lagos accounts for 12.6% of Nigeria’s total debt is FALSE; findings show that the figure is lower.

2023 Elections: Open Letter to all Nigerian politicians

FactCheckHub
-
0
2023 Elections: Open Letter to all Nigerian politicians

Dear Nigerian politician, 

The election season is here, and the narratives are building up around candidates, political parties, and issues. 

As a result, the media, especially social media, is awash with loads of information aimed at pushing one political agenda or the other. There are claims and counter-claims, some of which advance existing ethnic and religious narratives, and engender distrust among Nigerians.

READ: Key Nigerian political figures fact-checked during off-cycle governorship elections in Imo, Kogi, Bayelsa

This is an appeal from us, fact-checkers working in Nigeria, to you, politicians, whether you are contesting the 2023 elections or not. It is the duty of all citizens to ensure that this seventh general election since 1999 is credible by all standards. And you play a significant role in this; hence this open letter is addressed to you. 

We – the Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition – are committed to non-partisanship and fairness and are bound by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).

We have internal processes and methodologies that mandate us to present factual, fair, independent and objective reports devoid of personal biases and opinions.

We are independent and apolitical; we are neither for any political candidate nor party.

It is a fact that disinformation and influence peddling are threats to Nigerians having a credible election in 2023. We have already seen an increase in the circulation of misinformation that can sway public opinion about candidates and parties and influence voters. It is a dangerous trend. 

Democracy thrives when the outcome of elections truly reflects the informed choice of the people, devoid of deceit and manipulation. 

Disinformation has affected elections in several countries. For example, during the 2017 French presidential elections, a duplicate version of the Belgian newspaper, Le Soir, was created to include a false article claiming that Emmanuel Macron was funded by Saudi Arabia.  

In Brazil, a study found that the winner of the 2018 presidential election, Jair Bolsonaro benefitted from a disinformation scheme on WhatsApp. Bolsonaro’s supporters distributed doctored photos of senior Workers Party members celebrating with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, thereby portraying them as radicals. This may have influenced the outcome of that election. 

One of the most prominent examples in Nigeria is the Cambridge Analytica case, where the organisation was contracted to target election content in favour of a candidate in the 2015 presidential election. 

Cambridge Analytica was also used in Kenya in 2013 and 2017. As the country heads for another election in August, there have been cases of social media influencers and ordinary citizens being paid to spread false and misleading narratives. 

In all these, it is important to note that it is not enough for you to avoid making false claims and spreading misleading information, you must take responsibility for debunking false information related to your candidacy or your party, even if it advances your campaign.

ALSO READ: 2023 Off-cycle elections: Claims fact-checked ahead of Nov. 11 governorship polls

We are watching. We are monitoring the media to spot misinformation and call out disinformation schemes.

Ensuring accuracy in public debate is for the good of society. We invite you to join the fight against the spread of misinformation this election season. You owe it to the people you desire to serve to provide accurate information and ensure they are not deceived or intimidated as they head to the polls.

In the words of a former United Nations secretary-general, Kofi Annan, “Deepening our democracy is a crucial struggle, not just for our future prosperity and peace, but also for our fundamental human aspiration to live as free men and women. At the end of the day, what matters is not so much which candidate or which party wins an election, as long as the country wins”.

Elections are not a do-or-die affair. Let’s do it for posterity. 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition.

Mobile: +2349030785265

Email: nigerianfactcheckerscoalition@gmail.com

Charly Boy’s tweet about INEC discontinuing electronic transmission of results is FALSE

Ajibola Amzat
-
0
Charly Boy’s tweet about INEC discontinuing electronic transmission of results is FALSE

NIGERIAN singer, Charles Chukwuemeka Oputa, aka Charly Boy, has tweeted that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, would no longer transmit the result of Nigeria’s 2023 general election electronically as required by the law and urged the Nigerian youths to protest the INEC decision.

The tweet thread posted on his verified Twitter handle @AreaFada1 via his iPhone at exactly 5:22 p.m. on Sunday read: “Una go don hear say, INEC announce dis morning say there will be no more electronic transmission. They want to revert to their old way, a manual collection so they can rig as they want.

“Nigerian Youths, if una gree for dem way. Kiss ur future in dis country goodbye. U all must never agree to dis nonsense.”

READ: Nov 11 polls : INEC warns against election-related misinformation

The tweet, archived here, has garnered over 3,000 likes and over 1,300 retweets five hours later. Charly Boy has over 92,000 followers on Twitter.

CLAIM

That INEC announced on Sunday morning that there would be no more electronic transmission of election results.
Screenshot of Charly Boy's tweet.
The screenshot of Charly Boy’s tweet.

THE FINDINGS

Checks by The FactCheckHub show that Charly Boy’s claim is FALSE.

Charly Boy indeed referred to a recent interview granted by the INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, where he said election results would be collated manually.

Okoye said the election would be collated manually in the interviews but explained the difference between collation and transmission of results.

He states, “There is a marked difference between the transfer/transmission of results and the collation. Section 50(2) of the Electoral Act, 2022 gives the commission the absolute discretion to determine the mode and procedure of voting in an election and the transmission of election results.

“Sections 60 and 62 of the Electoral Act govern post-election procedure and collation of election results. Section 60(1) of the Act provides that the presiding officer shall, after counting the votes at a polling unit, enter the votes scored by each candidate in a form to be prescribed by the commission.

“Section 60(5) of the Act makes it mandatory that the presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner prescribed by the commission. After recording and announcing the results, the presiding officer shall then deliver the same along with election materials under security and accompanied by the candidates or their polling agents, where available to such person as may be prescribed by the commission.

“The implication of this is that the collation process of results is still essentially manual, but the collation officer must collate subject to his verification and confirmation that the number of accredited voters stated on the collated result is correct and consistent with the number of accredited voters recorded and transmitted directly from polling units.”

Notwithstanding, other political actors have begun to question INEC’s announcement.

A former presidential aspirant of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kingsley Moghalu, posted a thread of tweets at 5:33 p.m. the same day expressing concern.

“@inecnigeria now says election results will be manually collated and transmitted? OK o! Is my not being on the ballot for 2023 a blessing in disguise after all?  Like I said, I will remain engaged in nation-building from a nonpartisan standpoint,” his tweet thread partly read.

INEC's Press Release clarifying the Electronic Transmission of Election Result on Sunday.
INEC’s Press Release clarifying the Electronic Transmission of Election Result.

Another Twitter user, Joseph Jonas (via @JosephJoJonas), warns INEC of the imminent problems if it goes ahead with its ‘decision’.

“Make you warn dem oo, because they are looking for our Trouble,” he tweeted at 5:34 p.m on Sunday.

INEC has, however, issued a press release clarifying the statement of its senior staff.

ALSO READ: 2023 election: INEC disowns fake ad-hoc staff recruitment website

“For clarity, the procedure for result transmission remains the same as in recent Governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States. There will be no change in all future elections, including the 2023 General Election.

“We wish to reassure Nigerians that the electronic transmission of results has come to stay. It adds to the credibility and transparency of the process when citizens follow polling unit-level results on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal in real-time on Election Day. There will be no change or deviation in subsequent elections,” the statement partly read.

INEC further appealed to Nigerians to be familiar with the provisions of the Electoral Act and avoid reaching a conclusion based on media headlines.

THE VERDICT

The claim by Charly Boy that INEC announced that there will be no more electronic transmission of election results is FALSE, as INEC clarified that it would transmit election results electronically just as it did in the recent 2022 Governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States.

 

Postscript: Despite showing that his tweet misinformed his followers, Charley Boy has not pulled down the tweet. In fact, he insisted that the INEC statement revealed that the electoral body was up to no good.
“I come in peace, but just to advice Innec people NEVER ever to think about dat Ojoro dem wan play. At least una don feel small backlash yesterday. Take it from me, any Bullshit will consume all of us,” he tweeted on August 22.

Misinformation: Google to improve search snippets using machine learning software

Raji Olatunji
-
0
Misinformation: Google to improve search snippets using machine learning software

Google has disclosed ongoing efforts to improve its search engine using its machine learning software called Multitask Unified Model (MUM).

This is coming in response to the trend of misinformation featured on its widely used platform.

Google search engine is said to have become more vulnerable to spreading false information online.

READ: IFCN announces application for ENGAGE phase of the Google’s Global Fact Check Fund

Pandu Nayak, the Vice President of Search at Google, told journalists last Wednesday that the growth of misinformation over the years has become a pressing challenge for them.

“We can only deliver on our mission if we can deliver high-quality results,” Nayak noted.

The company said it would use its artificial intelligence systems to improve search snippets.

It said it would use its machine learning software, MUM, to check information across multiple reliable sources that agree on the same facts.

According to Google, the process will allow the system to come to a consensus even if the sources don’t phrase the information similarly.

Also, the company is expanding its “About this result” feature to include more context about search results.

The feature will allow people to see more information about a search result.

Google is also launching “About this result” in more languages, including Spanish, German and Indonesian.

Another feature Google is updating is its “content advisories,” to tell users when not much information is available during breaking news and developing situations.

ALSO READ: Nikon, Sony and Canon to fight deepfakes with latest camera technology

This will also warn users when information is available but may be unreliable, based on Google’s ranking system for search results.

The new features stress the efforts against purveyors of misinformation.

However, none of the updates applies to YouTube, also owned by Google.

According to Nayak, YouTube hosts content and uses a personalized feed, though he noted that they both share ideas.

“Their problem is a little bit different than ours in search.

“We don’t work on YouTube directly, and YouTube doesn’t work on us directly,” Nayak noted.

Instablog9ja circulates fake images of arrested Owo massacre suspects

Omolola Roseline Pedro
-
0
Instablog9ja circulates fake images of arrested Owo massacre suspects

ON WEDNESDAY, the 10th of August 2022, a popular Nigerian blog, Instablog9ja at about 2:06 pm posted on its social media pages (Instagram and Twitter), the identities, including names and photos, of the five arrested suspected killers of victims of the Owo massacre.

In the Twitter link archived here, Instablog9ja on its Twitter handle @instablog9ja listed the names of the arrested suspects as Idris Ojo, Ishaq Farouk, Abdulmannan Obadiki, Abdulkareem Musa, and Abdul Azeez Obadaki, all from Kogi state.

Attached to these names were photos of four men in green uniforms and one in blue uniforms.

The tweet was accompanied with a caption that reads: “Owo church mass@cre: identities of the five arrested suspects revealed. The identities of the five suspects arrested in connection with the brutal killing of worshippers at St. Francis catholic church, Owo, Ondo state have been unveiled.”

READ: How foreign-linked accounts amplify disinformation about gunmen attack in Nigeria’s Plateau state

The post, now deleted from its Instagram page, had on Twitter garnered over 1,500 likes, and over 560 retweets as of 5:30 pm on the 11th of August, 2022.

The ICIR had on the 5th of June this year reported how gunmen suspected to be from the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) invaded St. Francis Catholic Church located in Owo LGA of Ondo state.

The attack led to the death of scores of worshippers, leaving many others severely injured.

Two months later, Premium Times reported that Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor, a general, had on Tuesday addressed the press in Abuja and announced the arrest of some suspected persons behind the gruesome Owo attack.

CLAIM

That the tweet shows the names and photos of the five arrested suspected killers of worshippers in Owo Catholic Church attack.

A screenshot of the Instablog9ja post on Twitter on August 11.
A screenshot of the Instablog9ja post on Twitter on August 11.

THE FINDINGS

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor, a general, had announced the arrest of five terrorists suspected to be behind the Owo church attack.

The CDS said that, through the collaborative efforts of military and DSS personnel, four terrorists were arrested at Eika, Okehi LGA, Kogi State on 1st of August, 2022.

Those arrested, according to Irabor, included Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (a.k.a Bin Malik), Momoh Otohu Abubakar, Aliyu Yusuf Itopa, and Auwal Ishaq Onimisi.

The Defence chief also mentioned the arrest of another suspected terrorist, Idris Ojo (32 years), who was apprehended at Ayetoro in Osi LGA of Ondo State through the combined effort of military and DSS personnel on 7th of August 2022.

In another statement, General Irabor said that preliminary investigation revealed that Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza was the mastermind of the terror attack on the Owo Catholic Church as well as the attack on a Police Station in Adavi LGA, Kogi State on 23 June 2022, during which a policeman was killed, and weapons carted away.

Idris Ojo, the CDS said, was one of the suspected ISWAP terrorists who escaped from the Kuje Medium Correctional Centre earlier on the 5th of July, 2022.

The CDS added that “Ojo was arrested alongside Jimoh Ibrahim (39 years), a sympathizer of the terrorist group, who accommodated him,” The ICIR reported.

Further findings revealed that the names and pictures of the people posted by Instablog9ja were those of prisoners who escaped from the Medium Security Correctional Centre, Kuje, Federal Capital Territory (F.C.T) following the jailbreak that took place on July 5, the ICIR had reported.

READ: Photos do not show gunmen attack in Plateau state

Similarly, further checks revealed that the uniforms worn by the suspects whose photos were uploaded suggest that they have been convicted and were serving jail terms in the correctional facility.

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) had, following the Kuje jailbreak, posted the identities of the escapees on the run on its portal.

THE VERDICT

The claim that the tweet shows the names and photos of the five arrested suspected killers of worshippers in Owo Catholic Church attack is FALSE; findings revealed that the identities of the five persons tweeted by Instablog9ja were those on the wanted “escapees” list of the nation’s Correctional authority and not suspects connected to the Owo church attack.

Old video of crowd booing Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq circulates online

Opeyemi Kehinde
-
0
Old video of crowd booing Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq circulates online

A VIDEO showing Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq reportedly being booed while trying to address a gathering at a public event has circulated online.

In the trending video, retrieved from WhatsApp on August 10, 2022, some people in the gathering were heard shouting ‘Ole’ (a Yoruba word for thief) shortly before he was whisked away by security men at the scene.

The video, which was recently posted on social media is trending online, as Nigerians head to the poll in February 2023.

Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq is the current governor of Kwara State in north-central Nigeria. He is seeking a second term to retain the governorship seat through his party – the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform in the 2023 general election.

READ: Kwara govt takes measures to address fake news, rumour peddling

The caption on the video reads: “Kwara state youths chase their governor out of the podium, say they are tired of APC also calling him Ole (thief). Finally, youths have woken up.”

The video was also traced to a TikTok account named Saint T with the username: @saint_t_comedy.

The video, posted by the TikTok user on August 9, 2022 has garnered over 68,000 views, over 400 comments and over 2,600 likes as of 12 noon on Thursday, August 11.

CLAIM

Video shows youths booed Kwara governor on stage in August 2022, saying they are tired of APC.

The old video posted on TikTok with a misleading claim in August 2022.

THE FINDINGS

Checks by The FactCheckHub show that the video is a 2018 footage while the captions on it are MISLEADING.

Findings revealed that the video is an old footage where some people disrupted the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union’s (IEDPU) 53rd conference that Abdulrazaq attended on the 25th of December, 2018 before he became Kwara governor.

The Punch newspaper reported that supporters of the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) disrupted the event held at the Emir of Ilorin Palace forecourt.

It added that Abdulrazaq, then the APC governorship candidate in the state, “was called to the podium to announce his donation” during the inauguration of the 2019 calendar of the union, when some supporters of the then Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, shouted him down, chanting “Atunwa” and “Ole”, among other words, to prevent him from speaking.

Meanwhile, Abdulrazaq’s supporters were shouting his slogan “O to ge” (translated “enough is enough” in English) to counter the opposing chants, the newspaper reported in 2018.

The disruption of that IEDPU’s event was also reported here, here and here in 2018 by several media outlets in the country.

ALSO READ: No, image does not show current state of Tanke bridge in Kwara state

Also reacting to the trending video, Bashir Adigun, the Special Adviser, Political Communication to the Kwara governor, in a statement reported by ThisDay newspaper, said the video was taken about four years ago.

“The video was taken in 2018 at the annual event organised by Ilorin Emirate’s apex sociocultural body, the IEDPU. The governor who was a candidate then, attended the event as a special guest of his home community association.

“Those who trended the video desperately meant to send the signal that an incumbent governor was being booed. That probably misled the wrong audience.

“Members of the public are kindly urged to ignore the old video clip which is clearly one propaganda gone awry,” the statement partly read.

The statement was also reported here and here.

THE VERDICT

The claim that the video showed youths booed Kwara governor on stage recently, saying they are tired of APC is MISLEADING; as findings show that the video is a 2018 footage.

Meta chatbot spreads fake news, slams Facebook

Raji Olatunji
-
0
Meta chatbot spreads fake news, slams Facebook

Blender Bot 3, the new chatbot Meta is test-running has slammed Facebook and spread fake news, reports have shown.

The chatbot, launched on August 5, 2022, by Meta, is a new prototype in its series of Blender Bots, which uses the California-based company’s conversational artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Meta chatbot is expected to converse on most topics by crawling the internet for contents and learn from its conversations.

Meta has glorified the chatbot’s ability to “combine conversational skills – like personality, empathy and knowledge – [and] incorporating long-term memory and searching the internet to carry out meaningful conversations.”

However, the chatbot has generated mixed reactions since Meta rolled out a demo website in the United States, inviting members of the public to chat with the tool and share their feedbacks with developers.

Even though Meta claimed that the chatbot was designed to avoid “learning from unhelpful or dangerous responses”, media reports, including that of The Guardian, have shown how the Blender Bot 3 churns out contents that seem uncomfortable even for the Menlo Park leadership.

The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, who has been working towards improving Meta’s reputation after being criticised over the spread of misinformation on its platforms, was slammed by the chatbot.

The Blender Bot 3 told BuzzFeed’s Max Woolf that Zuckerberg “is a good businessman, but his business practices are not always ethical. It is funny that he has all this money and still wears the same clothes!”

In another chat, it told Vice reporter Janus Rose that “since deleting Facebook, my life has been so much better”.

When Rose asked the bot if it trusted Facebook with its data, it replied saying “you must have read that Facebook sells user data. They made billions doing so without consent.”

The Wall Street Journal’s Jeff Horwitz revealed in a tweet that the Meta chatbot said it thought that Donald Trump was still president, adding that “Facebook has a lot of fake news on it these days.”

https://twitter.com/JeffHorwitz/status/1556245316596219904?t=xUNnabNS-h3p9bRfpUOJug&s=19

Also, Mashable’s Christianna Silva said that the Meta chatbot has spread “anti-Semitic conspiracy theories”.

While reacting to the development, Meta acknowledged the gaps revealed by the public demo.

“When we launched BlenderBot 3 a few days ago, we talked extensively about the promise and challenges that come with such a public demo, including the possibility that it could result in problematic or offensive language,” Meta said in an updated statement.

It added that “while it is painful to see some of these offensive responses, public demos like this are important for building truly robust conversational AI systems and bridging the clear gap that exists today before such systems can be productionised.”

According to Verdict, this is not the first time a chatbot has exhibited offensive behaviours.

Albeit, this is sensitive for Facebook because the platform has been blamed for hosting and helping to spread posts that led to the January 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill.

1...124125126...177Page 125 of 177