ON August 30, 2023, an X user and Labour Party supporter, @Chimaobi_nteoma posted a video showing a woman dancing and smoking at a party claiming that it shows the Nigerian Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa.
The video shows the woman smoking what appears like an electronic cigarette while dancing to music at a party.
She posted the video with a caption thus:
“See your minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy. Naija, una do well o.”
The post has generated over 1,000 reposts and more than 800 likes as of August 31, 2023.
THE CLAIM
Video shows Nigerian minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa dancing and smoking at a party.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
The FactCheckHub analyzed the original video which was shared by Dior Events and Parties (@Dior05) on TikTok. Our findings show that, though the woman in the footage resembles the minister, she is not the one in the viral video.
Our researcher observed some key features which distinguish the woman from the minister.
For example, in contrast to the minister, the woman in the video clip possesses a huge physique with a sizable waist. Furthermore, she is of shorter stature than the minister and has a more elongated, pointed nose. Musawa is also lighter than her (woman in viral footage) in complexion.
Also, the woman who appears to be a Yoruba is seen dancing to a Fuji music in the video, a genre typically understood by Yoruba speakers as she fluently recites the song along with the musician. Meanwhile, Musawa is of Fulani tribe from Katsina state.
Further checks indicated that the Nigerian minister was likely in Abuja when the footage hit the social media, as posts on her Instagram handle suggests, among others.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the video shows the Nigerian minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa dancing and smoking at a party is FALSE; findings show that the woman in the video is not the minister.
Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
