A claim that money, textile fabrics and foodstuffs were distributed to the electorate during the governorship supplementary election held in Kebbi state on Saturday, April 15, 2023, has been circulating online.
Shehu Sani, a former federal lawmaker, made the claim via a tweet on Saturday.
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The tweet read:
Money, textile fabrics and foodstuffs are openly shared to the electorates in the on going Kebbi state supplementary Governorship elections.This is the face of our democracy,not in the school curriculum of our children.
The tweet has since garnered over 62,000 views, more than 1,500 likes and over 500 retweets as of Sunday, April 16, 2023.
CLAIM
Money, textile fabrics and foodstuffs were distributed to the electorates in Kebbi state.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by the FactCheckHub show that this claim is TRUE.
Two female voters in Saturday’s supplementary elections in Kebbi state have claimed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) gave each of them N3,000, two wrappers and packs of pasta for voting the party, Channels TV reported.
The woman who spoke in Hausa language narrated how she was given the items for voting what she described as “the broom” party. She said “the broom” party gave her the same as well as others for voting for them.
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Daily Trust also reported that at Hisbah office polling unit, Marafa ward, Ubandoma/Takalau in the old town area of Birnin Kebbi, some male voters told journalists that they were given a bag of fertilizer and N200,000 to vote APC, while some said they were given between N30,000 and N40,000 to vote PDP in the governorship election.
Other media platforms also reported incidents of voters inducement in the election.
THE VERDICT
The claim that money, fabrics and food were distributed to the electorate in Kebbi state is TRUE; findings revealed that some Kebbi voters were induced to vote for certain political parties with the aforementioned items.
Seasoned fact-checker and researcher Fatimah Quadri has written numerous fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy pieces for The FactCheckHub in an effort to combat information disorder. She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or [email protected].
