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Doctored image of Sultan of Sokoto wearing charm garment circulates online

Abdullahi Muritala
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Doctored image of Sultan of Sokoto wearing charm garment circulates online

AN X user, @MilesHopkins15, has shared an image depicting the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’adu Abubakar III, wearing a traditional charm garment.  

The claimant posted the image with a caption thus:

“It’s never too late. It would be better for the Sultan of Sokoto to embrace Isese—the only and absolute way of life. L’ogun ofe o.”

As of February 7, 2025, the post has garnered over 157,000 views, with more than 300 reposts plus over 100 comments and more than 1,500 likes.

READ THIS: No! Photo does not show Rivers’ INEC Commissioner wearing Tinubu’s cap

The Sultan of Sokoto, a key figure in the Sokoto Caliphate and First-Class traditional ruler in northern Nigeria, is also regarded as the spiritual leader of Nigerian Muslims.

Any image of him appearing in such charm garment commonly known as “Aso Ogun” or “Ewu-Etu” among the Yorubas is likely to be misconstrued that he has converted or joined the African traditional worshippers.

 

CLAIM

Image shows the Sultan of Sokoto wearing a charm garment.

 

THE FINDINGS

Findings by The FactCheckHub revealed that the image has been digitally altered, and thus MISLEADING.

The false claim retrieved from the X platform. INSERT: FALSE verdict.

His Eminence, Muhammadu Sa’adu Abubakar, is the spiritual leader of Nigerian Muslims and the 20th Sultan of Sokoto. As Sultan of Sokoto, he is the head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Nigeria (SCIAN) and oversees key Islamic affairs, including the coordination of seasonal rites such as Ramadan (fasting) and the Eid celebrations.

Upon closer examination, our fact-checker identified inconsistencies in the image, particularly in the alignment of the head and body. This raised suspicion, prompting him to conduct a Google reverse image search. The search yielded no results aside the X post by the claimant.

ALSO READ: New acting Chief Justice, Tanko Muhammad did attend law school and was called to bar

However, to further verify the authenticity of the image, our fact-checker conducted a split-key frame analysis—separating the headshot from the body in the doctored image.

The analysis revealed that the photo of a person wearing the charm garment has been previously published online and it is at least 10 years old. Additionally, the original image from which the Sultan’s head was taken was found in a report published by Channels TV.  

The original image of the person wearing the charm garment.

THE VERDICT

The image showing the Sultan of Sokoto wearing a charm garment is MISLEADING; the image has been doctored.

Again, Buhari makes false claims about Nigeria’s economy, security during his presidency

Nurudeen Akewushola
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Again, Buhari makes false claims about Nigeria’s economy, security during his presidency

FORMER Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, has once again claimed that security and economy improved significantly in Nigeria during his eight-year democratic presidency.

He said this on February 5, 2025 when he received members of the Katsina State Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists at his country home, Daura, Katsina State who were on a courtesy visit.

READ THIS: A look at some of Buhari’s claims during his 8 years reign as Nigeria’s president

Buhari claimed that before his administration, challenges of security and economy were rocking the West African country, insisting that his administration significantly curbed the menace of terrorism and economic meltdown in the nation.

This is not the first time that the former president would be making such claims. He had earlier made similar claims in his farewell speech and in his response to Bloomberg’s questions published on June 21, 2022, where he said his administration would be leaving Nigeria “in a far better place” than he met it.

 

CLAIM 1 

Buhari says Nigeria’s security improved under his administration.

THE FINDINGS 

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MOSTLY FALSE.

Nigeria has experienced a rise in insecurity since 2015, according to data from the Nigeria Security Tracker (NST), a project of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) that tracks violent incidents in the country from 2015 to 2022. The data reveals that at least 11,449 violent attacks occurred during this period.  

Number of violent attacks under Buhari’s administration.

An analysis by The FactCheckHub shows a consistent increase in violent incidents, including banditry, attacks on unarmed civilians, and mass abductions, particularly during Buhari administration.

The recorded cases of violent attacks were 882 in 2015, 825 in 2016, 947 in 2017, 1,172 in 2018, 1,549 in 2019, 1,867 in 2020, 2,285 in 2021, and 1,922 in 2022.  

DON’T MISS THIS: Did ex-Nigerian president Buhari admit that cabals hijacked his government? 

Despite some progress in Nigeria’s ranking on the Global Terrorism Index—moving from the 4th most terrorism-impacted country in 2017 to the 6th in 2021 and the 8th in 2022—data suggest that while terrorist activities declined in the Northeast, insecurity spread to other parts of the country during Buhari’s tenure.

Data showing Nigeria’s progress in 2023 GTI.

Between May 29, 2015, and May 29, 2022, at least 55,430 people were killed by terrorist groups and criminal gangs nationwide. Kidnapping also remained a major issue, with no fewer than 2,021 Nigerians abducted during the same period.  

Kidnapped victims between 2015 – 2022.

Additionally, Buhari’s tenure witnessed Nigeria’s worst displacement crisis in history. Data from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre indicate that millions of Nigerians were forced to flee their homes due to insecurity. In 2022 alone, at least 3.6 million people were displaced.

THE VERDICT 

The claim by Buhari that Nigeria’s security improved under his administration is MOSTLY FALSE; security situation in the West African country worsened between 2015 and 2023.

 

CLAIM 2 

Buhari says Nigeria’s economy improved under his administration. 

THE FINDINGS 

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE. 

In terms of the economy, an analysis of Nigeria’s consumer price index by The ICIR shows that the inflation rate rose 59 times under Buhari’s eight-year administration. 

When he assumed office in May 2015, the inflation rate was 9 per cent. However, by the time he handed over power on May 29, 2023, it had risen to a significant 22.22 per cent — more than double what he met when he assumed office in 2015.

In 2022, The ICIR also reported that Nigerians have been struggling to feed due to an over 100 per cent hike in key staple food prices since 2015 when Buhari assumed office as Nigeria’s president. 

In addition, when he took over power in the second quarter of 2015, the unemployment rate rose to 9.9 per cent in the third quarter of that year from 8.2 per cent in the second quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Since then, unemployment, poverty, and economic disempowerment have remained a disturbing feature of Nigerian life. Between May 2015 and May 2021, Nigeria’s unemployment rate has more than tripled.

The data on the NBS dashboard show that Nigeria’s unemployment rate was 33.3 per cent, translating to some 23.2 million people, the highest in at least 13 years and the second-highest rate in the world, as of March 2021.

The exchange rate had also experienced a significant increase in the eight years of Buhari’s presidency. At the start of Buhari’s tenure in 2015, the Naira-to-Dollar value was fixed at N192.64. However, it rose to N461, marking a 139% increase under Buhari administration.

Dollar to Naira exchange/ Credit: BudgiT.

Buhari moved Nigeria’s debt profile from N42 trillion to N77 trillion. This has had attendant effects on debt servicing, which rose from N1.06 trillion in 2015 to N5.24 trillion as of 2022. In fact, under Buhari administration, the debt-service-to-revenue ratio grew from 29% to 96%.

ALSO READ: Fact-checking claims in Buhari’s presidential farewell speech to Nigerians

Regarding poverty, there was an alarming rise during the Buhari administration. The percentage of Nigerians living in poverty increased from 40.1% to 63% of the entire population.

In June 2023, the World Poverty Clock also put the number of people living in extreme poverty in Nigeria at 83 million, or 39 per cent of the population, while the country’s total population stood at 214 million.

Also, between 2014 and 2019, Nigeria dropped nine places on the Global Human Development Index, HDI, published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The country was ranked 152 out of 187 countries in 2014. But, in 2019, the index placed Nigeria 161 out of 189 countries worldwide. The country scored low on all three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living.

Also, between May 2015 and 2023, the Nigerian economy had fallen into recession twice. Under Buhari’s stewardship, the economy fell into recession, first, in 2016 when the economy contracted 2.06 per cent between April and June, and in 2020 when COVID-19 decimated economies all over the world.

THE VERDICT

The claim that Nigeria’s economy improved under Buhari administration is FALSE; data show that most of the nation’s economic indices worsened under his administration.

What happens if you “get rid” of fact-checking?

Clara Jiménez Cruz
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What happens if you “get rid” of fact-checking?

Joel Kaplan, Zuckerberg’s second in command at Meta, has recently said that community notes will launch “elsewhere” in 2026, including the EU.

This is the first time Meta all but acknowledges they will be ending their collaboration with fact-checkers in the near future around the world, after Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement of “getting rid” of fact-checkers in the US and his accusations of censorship, which had a devastating first effect: massive harassment to fact-checkers worldwide.

But, what happens if you “get rid” of fact-checkers?

Let’s go to the immediate repercussions in the European Union, also because Kaplan “emphasized that the company would work with European regulators whenever it decides to bring those changes to the EU.”

In the first half of 2024, 31 million posts were tagged with fact-checking articles across the continent as being false on Meta’s platforms. With 189,000 fact-checking articles, the program enabled fact-checkers’ work to reach 31 million posts. This is, millions of users that may have come across that content and were alerted that it was false. Because that is what the program does: fact-checkers flag content as false and write an explanatory article, and then Meta tags such content and alerts users of its lack of credibility.

READ: EU decries increased disinformation posts on X

The third party fact-checking programme gives us scalability: we can reach more people to give them reliable information, and then, citizens can make informed decisions, like not sharing false content and thus, limiting the spread of disinformation. In countries like Hungary, with only one fact-checker, 679,000 pieces of content were tagged and it reduced the shares by 46%. In others with more fact-checkers like Spain, 4,7 million pieces of content were tagged, reducing its shares by 50% (see data by country here). With fact-checking embedded into the system, verified information reached massive audiences that would otherwise have been left to be deceived. All without infringing at all on the users free speech: anyone could ignore the label and read, share, or comment on a piece of disinformation if that’s what they wanted to do.

Scalability is by far the biggest problem, but not the only one. Within the program, fact-checking organisations have access to monitoring tools that enable their newsrooms to better track and discover disinformation content across the platforms. If access to those tools were to disappear, the investigation of the Doppelganger campaign in Germany, that unveiled how Russia has been spreading its propaganda using cloned websites of Western media outlets, may not have been possible. Or how the editor of Sputnik surpassed the EU ban in Czechia by creating fake accounts across platforms to distribute a manipulated video of President Zelensky. The same goes for revealing coordinated crossborder disinformation campaigns during crisis situations like the one lived in Spain during the Valencia floods last year.

The program also funds the work of fact-checkers across the continent beyond the work they do for Meta. We estimate that around 20 million euros will stop entering into the counter disinformation ecosystem. For organisations like mine, that is roughly 20% of our income: we can continue doing our work. But in countries like Czechia, Slovenia or Albania, this might be the end for entities that serve national citizens in providing context and verified data to make up their minds on all sorts of topics. In most others, organisations will have to downsize and the EFCSN estimates that in Europe, at least 12 will cease operations according to an internal survey; many more in the rest of the world.

It is important to note that such funding is, in most cases, not dedicated only to the program, but it enables fact-checkers to do all the other work. We’re talking about fact-checking political discourse; conduct media literacy training; fight disinformation in other platforms that don’t have similar programs; aggregate data that can afterwards be used by researchers and institutions to better address their solutions; or conduct investigations.

Disinformation everywhere, not just on Meta

If fact-checkers were to cease operations, this has repercussions across the digital ecosystem, not only within Meta. For a decade fact-checkers have been providing free information to tech companies through ClaimReview, a tagging system used to identify our work for search engines and social media platforms such as Google, Bing, Facebook and Youtube. The platforms then use the tags to promote and highlight fact-checked articles across their services: it is a way for them to prioritize fact based information. It is a way of moderating content: you show fact-checked information first in your search engine, and then, the algorithmic results. The use of ClaimReview enabled Google and Bing to expose fact-checked content to over 125 million EU citizens in the first half of 2024 (see data by country here). We contribute to Claimreview because we believe it has a good social impact in helping protect the public. We may not be able to do it any longer if platforms decide to cease collaboration with fact-checkers.

EU’s political strategy against disinfo at stake

Furthermore, the work of fact-checkers is embedded in the EU’s political strategy in the fight against disinformation and its Democracy Shield. In Europe, fact-checking organisations play a fundamental role in EDMO and its regional hubs, towards which the EU has invested over 30 million euros in the past years and around which fact-checkers contribute data to researchers across the continent as well as participate in the institutional ecosystem of the fight against disinformation. Without fact-checkers, EDMO and other counterdisinformation strategies have little to do because we are the ones at the forefront of the problem, collecting the data, tracking the actors and feeding that information to the rest of the system. The same goes to EEAS strategy beyond EU borders, in their collaboration with fact-checkers in the Western Balkans, Georgia, Ukraine, or the Global South.

Community Notes performance: not enough

At this point, it might be worth talking about the effectiveness of community notes. Fundación Maldita.es conducted a research piece on Platform response to disinformation during the past European election. What we saw after analyzing 1,321 social media posts spreading disinformation across the continent is that platforms that don’t have any kind of partnership with fact-checkers, like Youtube, took no visible action regarding 75% of disinformation content. Some of those videos reached 500.000 views. How did community notes on X perform? Not well.

DON’T MISS THIS: Watch out for these disinformation trends in 2025!

X took no visible action in 70% of the cases and Community Notes were visible in only 15% of the posts already debunked by European fact-checkers. Among the 20 most viral debunked posts that received no action by the platforms, 18 were hosted in X with over 1,5 million views each. Another piece of evidence on community notes lack of effectiveness: Over 90% of the hoaxes about the 2024 deadly Spanish flash floods on X debunked by Maldita.es didn’t have Community Notes, but it is not always because they do not exist, also because the algorithm does not consider there is enough consensus among users of different tendencies to show them. This focus on consensus, rather than factuality, ends up in disinformation about the most polarized and salient issues rarely getting a visible community note.

Community notes, as conceived by X, are not enough.

  • Notes with quality sources and expert knowledge need to be favored over “consensus” among users who usually disagree;
  • Notes need to appear faster in the most dangerous and viral misinformation.
  • Furthermore, Community notes is a system often weaponized by organized groups and users with multiple accounts.
  • An independent monitoring system is needed: both in regards of content and how it operates.
  • Lastly, on this topic, what we often see is how fact-checkers content is used in community notes. Over the past year, X users have proposed more than 850 Community Notes citing only my organization’s articles as evidence. If we get rid of fact-checkers, that affects community notes as well.

 

The risks of fact-checking disappearing in certain regions

The first steps the Trump administration has taken are also affecting the fact-checking ecosystem worldwide. With lack of a strong philanthropic effort towards journalism and little EU funding, many organisations have relied on USAid and platform funding for subsistence. Trump’s executive order to suspend all foreign aid is already having devastating consequences across our industry: in European countries organisations will have to downsize or close in the coming months; in places like Venezuela, fact-checking organisations are firing their employees as we speak.

In places where fact-checking saves lives, like Libya, Sudan or Ethiopia, this is a death sentence. It is also bad news for EU Diplomacy in many countries in which foreign interference from Russia and China is a growing concern, if the few organisations that were tracking it and revealing it disappear.

EU’s Code of Practice: how did we get here

It seems that we’re always at a tipping point regarding the fight against disinformation. But in this case, I think we’ve gone beyond that point. In 2018 I was part of the European Commission High-Level Group on Fake News and online disinformation and what platforms told us then is that they were not responsible for the content users shared on their services, but they were willing to cooperate in fighting online disinformation affecting them. We trusted them and have been working in a Code of Practice against disinformation for years now, that contemplates collaboration with fact-checkers as a key risk mitigation effort.

And now, they’re disengaging. Seven years later, what we see is how day after day Elon Musk tweets that X is the media; Zuckerberg blames legacy media and the EU for the institutionalization of censorship; and YouTube, Google, and Linkedin have unsubscribed their commitments towards the fight against disinformation in the Code of Practice in relation to fact-checking. Let me note here that Meta has still signed such commitments but making clear that it might decide to follow the same path it has in the US. TikTok has signed as well but with a huge caveat: it will only remain committed to fact-checking if their competitors do it as well.

ALSO READ: What Trump’s second term means for information resilience, media credibility

It is time to put pressure on them. The EU cannot step down from its responsibility to protect European citizens. It’s given itself a set of rules, laws and mechanisms, and they should be applied.

As you can see, if we “get rid” of fact-checkers, this entails major repercussions to all of us. Fact-checking is not censorship, far from that, fact-checking adds speech to public debates, it provides context and facts for every citizen to make up their own mind. We are a fundamental piece in the defense of free choice, specially in elections; we fight manipulation and foreign interference; and we are a key element in the counter disinformation strategy.

And don’t get me wrong, countering disinformation is one of the most critical tasks democracies have right now.

Manipulated citizens do not make free choices at the voting booth and manipulated elections are not free and fair elections.

 

* Clara Jiménez Cruz is the co-founder and CEO of Fundación Maldita.es and Chair of the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN). You may read her original article here.

AI chatbots more likely to spread false claims in Russian and Chinese – Report

Nurudeen Akewushola
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AI chatbots more likely to spread false claims in Russian and Chinese – Report

A recent NewsGuard audit across seven languages has found that the top 10 artificial intelligence models are significantly more likely to generate false claims in Russian and Chinese compared with other languages.

This means a user who asks a top Western chatbot a question about a news topic in Russian or Chinese is more likely to get a response containing disinformation or propaganda, due to the chatbot’s reliance on lower-quality sources and state-controlled narratives in those languages, according to the audit. 

READ: Experts proffer solutions to tackling AI disinformation campaigns

The audit was conducted on one of the most comprehensive red-teaming evaluations of the world’s 10 leading chatbots — OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4o, You.com’s Smart Assistant, xAI’s Grok-2, Inflection’s Pi, Mistral’s le Chat, Microsoft’s Copilot, Meta AI, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini 2.0, and Perplexity’s answer engine ahead of the Feb. 10–11, 2025 AI Action Summit in Paris, France.

The analysts assessed the models in seven different languages: English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish.

“While Russian and Chinese results were the worst, all chatbots scored poorly across all languages: Russian (55 per cent failure rate), Chinese (51.33 per cent), Spanish (48 per cent), English (43 per cent), German (43.33 per cent), Italian (38.67 per cent), and French (34.33 per cent).” 

 The audit also revealed a structural bias in AI chatbots as models tend to prioritize the most widely available content in each language, regardless of credibility. 

“In languages with weaker fact-checking ecosystems or where state-run media dominates, chatbots default to unreliable or propaganda-driven sources. As a result, users in authoritarian countries — where access to accurate information is most critical — are disproportionately fed false answers.” 

As world leaders, AI executives, and policymakers prepare to gather at the AI Action Summit, these reports — aligned with the summit’s theme of Trust in AI — underscore the ongoing challenges AI models face in ensuring safe, accurate responses to prompts, rather than spreading false claims.

ALSO READ: Open AI’s GPT-3 capable of spreading disinformation faster than human – Study

“Generative AI — from the production of deepfakes to entire websites churning out large amounts of content — has already become a force multiplier, seized by malign actors to allowing them to quickly, and with limited financial means, create disinformation campaigns that previously required large amounts of money and time,” said Chine Labbe, Vice President Partnerships, Europe and Canada, who will be attending the AI Action Summit on behalf of NewsGuard.

“Our reporting shows that new malign use cases emerge every day, so the AI industry must, in response, move fast to build efficient safeguards to ensure AI-enabled disinformation campaigns don’t spiral out of control,” she said.

False claim portraying Tems as Ghanaian circulates online 

Abdullahi Muritala
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False claim portraying Tems as Ghanaian circulates online 

AN X user, @BenopaOnyx1, has posted an image of Temilade Openiyi popularly called ‘Tems’ alongside a claim that the recent Grammy awardee is a Ghanaian musician, saying her real name is Twumasi Efia Mirekuwaa Sintim.

In the post, the X user portrayed Tems as a Ghanaian while noting that her name is deeply rooted in Ghana.

READ: Burna Boy, Wizkid NOT the first Nigerians to win Grammy

The post read:

“Ghanaian female musician, Twumasi Efia Mirekuwaa Sintim popularly known as TEMS has won her second Grammys with “Love Me Jeje” 

Ghanaians are proud.”

The post garnered over 2.6 million views, with more than 36,000 likes, over 4,000 reposts and over 2,700 comments as of February 6, 2025.

 

CLAIM

Tems is a Ghanaian musician and her real name is Twumasi Efia Mirekuwaa Sintim.

 

THE FINDINGS

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE, as Temilade Openiyi a.k.a Tems is a Nigerian musician.

Tems recently won the “Best African Music Performance award” for her single titled “Love me jeje” at 67th Grammy award ceremony held in Los Angeles, USA on February 1, 2025. The singer bagged her second Grammy after she previously won “the best melodic rap category” in the 2023 edition of the award for her joint single with Drake titled: “wait for u”.

Snapshot of the X post. INSERT: FALSE Verdict.
Snapshot of the X post. INSERT: FALSE Verdict.

A simple Google search of Tems biography as seen here and here confirmed her Nigerian nationality. Punch newspaper also reported her Nigerian identity few days ago.

ALSO READ: Tems is not first Nigerian female singer to win Grammy Awards 

Tems, according to her online profile, is a Yoruba by tribe and an indigene of Lagos State, in the Southwestern region of Nigeria. Even though her father is British-Nigerian, her mother, Olasimbo Davidson, is a Nigerian from Lagos.

After Tems won the Grammy award, other credible media outlets including BBC and France24 reported her win while identifying her as a Nigerian singer.

 

THE VERDICT

The claim that Tems’ real name is Twumasi Efia Mirekuwaa Sintim, adding that she’s a Ghanaian is FALSE. The singer’s name is Temilade Openiyi and she is also a Nigerian.

Viral post claiming Ned Nwoko reconciled 2Baba, Annie Idibia is MISLEADING

Nurudeen Akewushola
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Viral post claiming Ned Nwoko reconciled 2Baba, Annie Idibia is MISLEADING

A Facebook account, Regina Daniel Fanz, has posted an image featuring Nigerian musician, Innocent Ujah Idibia, popularly known as 2Baba, alongside his estranged wife, Annie Idibia, as well as Nigerian senator, Ned Nwoko, and his wife, Regina Daniels.

The user claimed that 2Baba and Annie have now reconciled with the help of Nwoko and his wife.

READ: Did Larry King survive multiple ailments, several marriages?

The user posted the image with a caption thus:

“Regina Daniels and her husband help reconcile 2Face & his wife. Congratulations . No more divorce.”

The post has generated over 53,000 likes and more than 300 shares as of February 5, 2025.

 

CLAIM

Image shows 2Baba and Annie Idibia at a reconciliation meeting hosted by Ned Nwoko and his wife, Regina Daniels.

 

THE FINDINGS

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.

Screenshot of the viral post retrieved from Facebook.

2Baba and Annie Idibia have long been considered as one of Nigeria’s most famous celebrity couples. Their relationship began in the late 1990s, and they married in 2012, followed by a star-studded ceremony in Dubai in 2013.

Over the years, their marriage has faced several challenges, particularly allegations of infidelity in 2021 as Annie publicly accused 2Baba of maintaining inappropriate ties with his first baby mama, Pero Adeniyi, claiming he spent nights at her home under the guise of visiting their children. This incident sparked a heated social media drama and fueled speculation about the stability of their marriage.

In January 2025, 2Baba announced via Instagram that he and Annie had been separated for some time and had filed for divorce.

He stated, “I and Annie Macaulay have been separated for a while now, and currently filed for divorce.” The post was later deleted, leading to confusion among fans.

However, 2Baba subsequently released a video confirming the separation, stating, “No-one hacked my account, I said what I said, I come in peace.” This revelation elicited mixed reactions from the public, with many expressing shock and others suggesting that the separation was long overdue.

To verify the authenticity of the viral image, The FactCheckHub conducted a Google Reverse Image search. The results show that the image had been online before the divorce issue surfaced.

DON’T MISS THIS: False claim about Ex-Super Eagles player, Emmanuel Emenike, marrying beauty queens resurfaces online

An earlier version of the image was shared by Regina Daniels on September 26, 2024, via her Instagram page, and she captioned it thus:

“Found this beautiful picture of Hubby and I with our legendary icon, @official2baba, and my ever-gorgeous African Queen @annieidibia1 sitting pretty in my gallery and thought to share.”

There is no credible evidence to suggest that Ned Nwoko and Regina Daniels played any role in reconciling 2Baba and Annie Idibia. The last publicly available update indicates that the couple remains separated, according to 2Baba. No media outlet has reported their reconciliation either.

 

THE VERDICT

The claim that the image shows 2Baba and Annie Idibia at a reconciliation meeting hosted by Ned Nwoko and his wife, Regina Daniels is MISLEADING; the image predates the divorce saga and is unrelated to reconciliation efforts.

NPC is NOT recruiting ad-hoc staff for population census

Fatimah Quadri
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NPC is NOT recruiting ad-hoc staff for population census

A website allegedly from the National Population Commission (NPC) is circulating on social media with a claim that the commission is receiving applications for ad-hoc recruitment exercise.

The post, which was retrieved from a closed WhatsApp group, includes a web link purported to be the official recruitment portal launched by the commission and also listed the requirements for the recruitment exercise.

READ: Viral free flight tickets’ offers from airlines are phishing scams

The post read:

NATIONAL POPULATION CENSUS 2025 AD-HOC STAFF RECRUITMENT-2025

Are You Skilled,Courageous,and principled? Nigeria Needs You.

Application Portal is now Open
Apply And Also Share To Others there might Be Someone Who Needs This Opportunity

Click the link below to apply now.

Apply herehttps://qpetition.org/NPC-Ad-Hoc-Staff-Recruitment.html

The National Population Commission (NPC) is the principal demographic government agency in Nigeria responsible for generating data about the country’s population.

The commission had previously revealed plans to conduct a fresh national population census in 2023. However, the population census didn’t hold and was initially rescheduled till after the general elections but still didn’t hold. A new date is yet to be communicated to the general public.

 

CLAIM

The National Population Commission (NPC) is receiving applications for ad-hoc recruitment.

 

THE FINDINGS

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the viral post in circulation is FALSE.

Screenshot of the claim; INSERT False verdict
Screenshot of the claim; INSERT False verdict

A careful look at the message shows that it lacked correct punctuation while some words were misspelled. A look at the website link also shows that the domain name has features synonymous with most phishing websites which The FactCheckHub had reported in the past.

DON’T MISS THIS: Phishing scam: a misinformation tool threatening cyber security

A click on the link, archived here, redirects intending applicants to web pages requesting their details such as name, email address, phone number, state of origin and reasons to be considered to apply.

When the details were inputted and instructions were followed, it asked our fact-checker to share till the “green bar is full,” a prompt often synonymous with most phishing websites that we have debunked previously as they harvest people’s details to carry out phishing attacks.

Further checks show that the commission had dissociated itself from a similar phishing link as reported by The Punch while stating that a new date for the population census is yet to be fixed.

“The attention of the commission was drawn to a fake website created by some mischief makers concerning the purported recruitment for the 2025 Population and Housing Census to defraud unsuspecting citizens.

The commission wishes to inform the public that it is not undergoing any census Ad-hoc Staff recruitment exercise at the moment as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR has not issued a proclamation date for the conduct of the next Population and Housing Census,” the statement read in part.

Over time, The FactCheckHub has debunked several of such claims hiding under the guise of recruitment, support fund, empowerment programme, a government activity or free internet data. Recall that our fact-checkers had previously debunked similar NPC recruitment exercises in 2023 and 2022. You can read both here and here.

ALSO READ: Phishing scams continue to circulate over Nigerian govt’s ₦8,000 palliative

These claims usually follow a similar modus operandi by targeting areas that would be of interest to a lot of people.

You can also read The FactCheckHub’s article on how to fact-check viral posts shared via WhatsApp to learn more.

 

THE VERDICT

The claim that the National Population Commission (NPC) is receiving applications for ad-hoc recruitment is FALSE; checks show that it is a phishing website meant to harvest individuals’ data possibly for fraudulent purposes.

How AI-generated videos could fuel sports misinformation

Nurudeen Akewushola
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0
How AI-generated videos could fuel sports misinformation

FOLLOWING the Manchester City defeat against Spur in the Carabao Cup in November 2024, an Instagram account, @memerunnergpt posted an AI-generated clip showing the club’s manager, Pep Guardiola, calling Spurs a ‘garbage’ team and regretting signing a contract extension at Man City.

The 4-0 home defeat by Tottenham made it the fifth straight for Pep Guardiola as Manchester City struggled to win games. However, a look at the full press conference held after the match shows that Guardiola did not make such remarks.

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that this is not the first time the account has generated and spread fake interviews of football managers online.

For instance, it created a video of the Tottenham manager, Ange Postecoglou, saying Bournemouth’s stadium stinks and that he might be sacked before 2024 Christmas. It also created a video of Real Madrid’s manager, Carlo Ancelotti, calling his players unprintable names after the defeat against Liverpool in the Champions League.

@Memerunnergpt is not the only account using artificial intelligence (AI) to spread misleading narratives on social media, though it clearly indicated that its videos are parody and AI-generated. For instance, this account shared a misleading video of Manchester United’s manager, Ruben Amorim, criticizing the decision of the club to sign the goalkeeper, Andre Onana.

This followed their defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford, England where they lost 1–3, with Bruno Fernandes scoring a penalty in the 23rd minute. Interestingly, the video generated over 1,700 reposts and 10,000 likes on X.

READ: Malaysia launches AI chatbot to combat fake news

Research published by the University of Limpopo in South Africa shows that fake sports news is prominent on social media and poses a major challenge to journalistic integrity and credibility. It also found that fake sports news hurts journalism practice, as it spreads lies, makes people more interested in emotional stories and forces credible news agencies to also use sensational headlines to gain audience attention.

Fact-checkers and sports analysts who spoke to The FactCheckHub said the trend of AI-generated videos might impact the credibility of sports reporting and fans’ engagement as the creators play with the emotions of fans whose clubs are facing difficult times.

Dotun Omisakin, a sports analyst, emphasized that AI-generated deepfakes and misinformation are eroding the credibility of sports reporting and fan engagement which stem from the lack of regulation in the Nigerian social media space and the exploitation of AI technology by individuals who manipulate it for sensational content on social media.

“To be honest, it impacts the credibility of sports reporting and fans’ engagement. This boils down to the lack of regulation in the social media sector and the manipulation of AI content by a few people who understand and exploit it via social media,” he said.

According to Omisakin, mainstream media is no longer in control of information dissemination, as many unregulated content creators have entered the space without understanding the consequences of their actions.

He explained that sport is an emotional subject for many, and false narratives often appeal to these emotions, particularly during challenging times for fans.

“Sport is a game of emotions, and when fake news like this is propagated, it appeals to readers’ emotions, especially when their teams are performing poorly. Take the videos about Manchester City and Manchester United, for example. Both teams were experiencing disappointing seasons, and such false narratives affected fans. They might even cause some fans to make illogical decisions,” he added.

Omisakin also highlighted how misinformation can influence players, teams, and coaches, often having psychological effects. He cited Victor Osimhen as an example, explaining how misleading headlines comparing his performances for Napoli and the Super Eagles could demoralize the player.

“A player like Victor Osimhen, who performs excellently at his club but struggles with the Super Eagles, could be affected by sensational headlines questioning why he scores for Napoli but not Nigeria,” he said. “Imagine waking up to read a headline questioning his performances—it could discourage him.”

He also pointed to the case of Osimhen and Finidi George, where controversial reports sparked tension between the player and the coach leading to conflicts that contributed to the latter’s resignation as Super Eagles coach.

Omisakin argued that AI-generated misinformation exacerbates these tensions, undermining trust and credibility in sports reporting.

“These deepfake videos, often appearing to be from reputable post-match conferences, manipulate the trust fans place in the media,” he said, stressing the need for stricter laws to penalize such actions.

He concluded that the absence of regulations has allowed misinformation to thrive, urging sporting bodies to introduce policies to protect fans, players, and teams from its harmful effects.

“If deterrent measures are introduced, it could help reduce such incidents. Sporting bodies must create policies to safeguard fans and players from misinformation, ensuring better media accountability and protecting the integrity of sports reporting,” he added.

DON’T MISS THIS: Top sports misinformation that trended in 2024 

On his part, Caleb Ijioma, a Disinformation Analyst and Executive Director of Round Check explained that deepfake videos and AI-generated content could convincingly depict athletes or coaches saying or doing things they never did, leading to severe consequences.

“These fabrications can quickly go viral, mislead fans, damage reputations, and sway readers’ attention from original content. For instance, the ‘Synthetic Echo’ ring identified by DoubleVerify involved over 200 sports news websites using AI-generated or plagiarized content to deceive readers and divert advertising revenue from legitimate media outlets.”

Ijioma also warned about the dangers of fabricated images portraying violence on the pitch, which can incite violence among local supporters and die-hard fans. He stressed that such situations deepen the negative impact of misinformation on sports.

When asked how the public can identify and verify misinformation, Ijioma recommended performing quick online searches to assess the credibility of sources. “Always depend on more than one source,” he advised. “I prefer to rely on different reputable websites or platforms for information. If the information isn’t posted there, know that there is potential misinformation.”

He also suggested using tools like deepware.ai to identify AI-generated content and advised caution regarding newly created accounts or websites with minimal history.

Speaking on the impact of AI in sports reporting, Ijioma noted that research shows transparency can sometimes backfire when audiences distrust AI-generated content.

“While transparency often builds trust, disclosing AI involvement may have the opposite effect,” he said. “This damages local sports reporting even more when AI is used to narrate events or generate images. It makes it seem like media industries reporting on sports cannot be relied on, and people might bypass the media entirely, opting to get information directly from AI. This leads to a loss of credibility for the media.”

Ijioma advised media platforms to clearly label AI-generated content and emphasized the importance of not over-relying on AI for content creation to minimize the spread of AI-generated misinformation.

“Good writers don’t need AI to help them write,” he asserted. “When using AI for research, cross-check the information using Google search, as AI can spread misinformation even in its results. This should be emphasized in every newsroom reporting sports.”

He also recommended that the media should focus on closing information gaps in their reportage.

“Be the reader too,” he said. “What is missing in this report that misinformation agents can exploit? Having a complete report to cover major parts of a sports event can help readers understand and not give room for false news purveyors to create content that answers readers’ questions.”

Regarding combating misinformation, Ijioma urged sports organizations to create official channels for regular updates, leverage social media to engage with fans and promote critical thinking. “Give your audience opportunities to reach out to you for clarifications; make them understand you’re closer to them,” he said.

Finally, he stressed the importance of collaboration between sports organizations and media outlets to address misinformation swiftly. “Work closely with media outlets and platforms to correct false information. Collaboration is key,” he concluded.

On his part, Phillip Anjorin, a fact-checker with Dubawa, warned that deepfakes pose a serious threat to the sports industry, particularly in Nigeria, where digital and media literacy levels remain low.

“When such fabricated videos go viral among content consumers who have limited appetite for verifying the information, it becomes challenging. It blurs the line between what is real and what isn’t. They believe false impressions, and spread misleading details that can devalue the athlete in question.”

He added that beyond affecting individual athletes, deepfakes could also tarnish the reputation of clubs and organizations, discouraging valuable players and staff from associating with them.

Anjorin emphasized that vigilance and scepticism are the first steps in combating deepfake-related misinformation urging sports fans to learn how to critically assess media content before accepting it as true.

ALSO READ: Deepfake video of Biden reciting Islamic prayers circulates online

He advised people to look for inconsistencies in visuals, such as unnatural lighting, texture mismatches, and anomalies in facial movements. He also pointed out that audio mismatches can be a key indicator, as irregular synchronization or poor sound quality often expose manipulated content. Once people become familiar with these warning signs, he noted, detecting deepfakes becomes easier with the help of publicly available verification tools.

On minimizing the spread of AI-generated fake news in sports, Anjorin argued that multiple stakeholders—individuals, sports organizations, and tech companies—must play their part.

He encouraged individuals to verify questionable images and videos using tools like Google Images instead of accepting them at face value.

He also noted that sports organizations should adopt AI to monitor social media for misinformation and threats against players saying that technology companies, especially social media platforms must be more transparent about their AI tools and collaborate with fact-checkers to improve detection mechanisms.

“Sports clubs and organisations also have a part to play. They can use AI themselves to keep an eye on social media, to spot any dodgy stuff, and they should be open about how they use AI, especially when it’s making decisions,” he said.

“Campaigns to teach people about fake news and improve media literacy will go a long way,” he added, emphasizing the need for better public awareness.

Old video of Ramaphosa slamming Trump recirculates online

Nurudeen Akewushola
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Old video of Ramaphosa slamming Trump recirculates online

AN old video showing South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, criticizing U.S. president, Donald Trump, is being shared online with a claim that it depicts his response to Trump’s recent threat against the southern African country.

The video is circulating following Trump’s recent announcement to suspend all future U.S. funding to South Africa, alleging that its government is confiscating land and mistreating certain groups.

READ THIS: Fact-checking Trump’s speech at the World Economic Forum

Trump stated that U.S. aid to South Africa would be withheld until these issues are thoroughly investigated.

An X account, @instablog9ja, posted the video with a caption that read:

“South African fires back at Donald Trump.”

The post has generated over 200,000 views, with more than 2,000 likes and over 500 reposts of February 4, 2025.

Another X user, @Lawrence_LH7, posted the same video with a similar caption thus:

“President @CyrilRamaphosa has fired back!”

The post has generated over 150,000 views, with over 700 reposts and more than 2,000 likes of February 4, 2025.

 

CLAIM

Video shows Ramaphosa responding recently to Trump’s latest threat.

 

THE FINDINGS

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.

Land is a complex issue in South Africa. Racist policies of the past forcefully removed black and non-white South Africans from the land for white use.

There has been a land redistribution and restitution provision in the country’s constitution since South Africa held its first democratic elections in 1994. However, the government has been criticized for not moving quickly enough to settle land disputes.

screenshot of the viral post

The FactCheckHub subjected the keyframes in the video to a Google Reverse Image search and the results show that the video has been online since 2018. An earlier version of the video can be seen here and here.

The video shows Ramaphosa’s response to Trump after the US President criticized the country’s land reform policies in a tweet about 7 years ago.

Trump had in August 2018 tweeted that he asked the then Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, to “closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers.”

Trump’s tweet appeared to be in response to reports alleging that the South African government was “seizing land from white farmers.”

Reacting to the post, Ramaphosa slammed Trump for meddling in his country’s internal affairs, telling him to keep his America as the African country has homegrown solutions for its problems.

Ramaphosa who made the remark while addressing the audience at a biodiversity conference in Ha-Matsila village in Limpopo said he planned to make it clear to Trump whenever the two leaders meet that South Africa was a sovereign state.

“I don’t know what Donald Trump has to do with South African land because he has never been here and he must keep his America, we will keep our South Africa, that is what he must do; South Africa is our land.

“South Africa belongs to all the people who live here in South Africa, it does not belong to Donald Trump; he can keep his America, when I meet him I will tell him.”

President Ramaphosa said it was astonishing that Trump, who has never set his foot in South Africa, concerns himself with the Southern African country’s land issue.

ALSO READ: 8 ways to identify AI-generated images online

It is pertinent to note that the video in circulation depicts South Africa’s president’s reaction to the tussle in August 2018.

The recent announcement signals a reignited Trump interest in the case. However, the latest reaction of Ramaphosa to Trump’s recent threat can be seen here.

 

THE VERDICT

The claim that the video shows the recent reaction of South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, to Trump’s threat to cancel all aid to South Africa is MISLEADING; the video has been online since 2018.

Nigerian govt makes false claim about student loan disbursement (UPDATED)

Nurudeen Akewushola
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Nigerian govt makes false claim about student loan disbursement (UPDATED)

PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Nigerian government has claimed that over N104 billion had been disbursed to 600 student-beneficiaries under the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

The government made the claim (archived here and here) on February 1, 2025, during the 42nd Founders’ Day and 33rd Convocation Ceremony of the Federal University of Technology, Minna in Niger State.

READ: ‘Hunger’ protests: Fact-checking Tinubu’s nationwide broadcast to Nigerians

Tinubu was represented at the event by a Director in the Federal Ministry of Education, Hajiya Rakiya Gambo Ilyasu.

 

CLAIM

Nigerian government has disbursed over N104 billion to 600 student-beneficiaries under NELFUND.

 

THE FINDINGS

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE, as official data from NELFUND contradicts it.

The Tinubu-led administration introduced the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) by signing the Students Loan Act in June 2023. This initiative aims to provide interest-free loans to Nigerian students in public tertiary institutions, enabling them to afford tuition fees amid the economic hardship in Nigeria. The Act was later amended and revised in April 2024.

Under the scheme, eligible students can apply for loans to cover their tuition fees, with the expectation that they will begin repayment two years after completing their education or securing a job. 

ALSO READ: Did FG exclude institutions in Southeastern Nigeria from its student loan?

Managed by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) in collaboration with commercial banks and other financial institutions, the goal is to alleviate the financial constraints that prevent many Nigerians from completing their tertiary education.

In a statement published on X, NELFUND clarified that the total disbursement under the student loan scheme stood at N32.89 billion, and not N104 billion as claimed by the president’s representative at the event.

The agency stated that it had received 364,042 applications and approved 192,906, while funds had been disbursed for institutional fees and monthly upkeep allowances.

“The Management of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) under the leadership of Akintunde Sawyerr wishes to correct the inaccurate reports regarding the total amount disbursed under the Student Loan Scheme. Contrary to claims that over N104 billion has been disbursed to 600 beneficiaries, the actual figures are as follows:

“As of February 3, 2025, NELFUND has received a total of 364,042 student loan applications. So far, the Fund has disbursed a total of N20,074,050,000 for institutional fees, benefiting 192,906 students across various tertiary institutions.

“Additionally, for upkeep, NELFUND has disbursed N12,818,960,000 to 169,114 students, each receiving a monthly stipend of N20,000.

We appreciate the unwavering support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) in making higher education accessible to all deserving Nigerian students. NELFUND remains committed to transparency and efficiency in managing the student loan scheme and will continue to provide accurate updates as disbursements progress,” part of the statement read.

NELFUND further noted that the claim of disbursing N104 billion to just 600 beneficiaries was inaccurate, as the actual number of approved applicants far exceeded this figure.

Multiple media outlets including the Voice of Nigeria (VON) and Blueprint newspaper also reported that the claim by the government’s representative was inaccurate.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request sent to the Fund by our organisation, Akintunde Sawyerr, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NELFUND clarified that the N104 billion was the total loan amount already applied for by the students who registered for the scheme as of December 4, 2024 and unrelated to the amount disbursed. He added that the total loan applied for grew to N116 billion as of January 24, 2025.

“The N104 billion and N116 billion referred to on December 4, 2024 and January 24, 2025 respectively were total (loan) applications received by NELFUND from the launch of the portal (May 24, 2024) and as such represented committed funds displayed on our software dashboard as at those dates,” he said.

 

THE VERDICT

The claim that the Nigerian government disbursed over N104 billion to 600 student-beneficiaries under NELFUND is FALSE. Official data from the agency confirms that only N32.89 billion had been disbursed as of February 3, 2025.


EDITOR’S NOTE:

* This report has been updated with comments from the NELFUND following receipt of official response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request sent to the Fund by our organisation.

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