The Osun State governorship election has offered a glimpse of the information battles that could define Nigeria’s next electoral cycle. In the days leading up to and during the poll, recycled videos, out-of-context images and fabricated claims circulated online, attempting to shape public perception and create confusion around the election.

As political activities gather pace ahead of the 2027 general elections, similar tactics could become more pronounced. The digital space is already emerging as a key battleground for political narratives, with misinformation and inflammatory content threatening to fuel ethnic tensions, particularly between Igbo and Yoruba communities.

The National Human Rights Commission has warned that hate speech poses a direct threat to democracy and national development ahead of the 2027 elections. The warning comes as the political contest takes shape around major figures including incumbent president Bola Tinubu, a Yoruba indigene and All Progressives Congress candidate; Peter Obi, an Igbo indigene and candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC); and former vice president Atiku Abubakar, a northerner and candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Against this backdrop, the misinformation witnessed during the Osun election may offer an early indication of the challenges that lie ahead, not only in verifying false claims, but also in tracking the narratives, actors and networks that could exploit ethnic and political fault lines as the 2027 campaign gathers momentum.

These concerns are not merely hypothetical. Examples from Nigeria’s digital space show how quickly political tensions can spill into ethnic hostility, with social media users deploying fabricated claims, AI-generated images and recycled videos to portray one ethnic group as a threat to another.

In one instance, a Facebook post by an account named Temmy Okanlomo called on Yoruba people to prepare for what it described as a “South Africa style” takeover of Yorubaland, using an image of South Africans protesting. The post claimed that properties sold to people from other regions remained Yoruba property and could be reclaimed, while calling on Igbo people living in Yorubaland to return to their regions.

In another case, a Facebook post shared an AI-generated image containing a message calling on “every Yibo landlord and their allies in SouthWest” to surrender their house keys to Yoruba people. The post triggered a counter-response from another user, who used derogatory distortions of the names of the Yoruba ethnic group and Tinubu.

Anti-Yoruba narratives have similarly circulated online. Harry Da Diegot, a social media commentator, shared an out-of-context video of a crowd surrounding a car, accompanied by text portraying Yorubas as extortionists and using a distorted form of the ethnic group’s name.

These examples illustrate how recycled and fabricated content can move beyond political misinformation to reinforce ethnic stereotypes and provoke hostility between communities. Findings by The FactCheckHub also indicate that monetisation and engagement-driven incentives on major platforms can amplify hate speech, as creators are financially rewarded for content that attracts attention and interaction.

The FactCheckHub also reported how these actors are many on social media and how they deliberately use disinformation and information manipulation to inflame the ember of tribal hostilities and sow discord between Igbo and Yoruba in Nigeria.

Rejoice Taddy, a disinformation researcher, told The FactCheckHub that the increasingly realistic nature of AI-generated content presents significant challenges for detecting and debunking hate speech.

Olayinka Shehu, a cyber threats and disinformation researcher, noted that while some users may hold genuine prejudices, others deliberately exploit ethnic divisions for political, financial or personal gain because outrage generates high engagement.

Shehu said tackling the trend requires more than conventional awareness campaigns.

“Citizens need stronger media and digital literacy skills to recognise manipulated narratives and question who benefits from viral content, while political actors and influencers who deliberately weaponise ethnic identity should be held accountable,” he said.

Shehu called on social media platforms to move beyond removing individual posts and instead identify repeat offenders and coordinated networks that amplify ethnic incitement. This, he said, requires moderation systems capable of detecting patterns of coordinated behaviour, while retaining human oversight to distinguish between content documenting hate speech and content promoting it.