VIRAL social media posts have circulated that the governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Erelu Kemi Elebute-Halle, has stepped down for a rival, Segun Oni at the ongoing governorship election in Ekiti State.
Oni is the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the state.
A Facebook user, Ayodeji Ogunleye Maliki, first posted the claim with a caption: “BREAKING NEWS
“ERELU KEMI ELEBUTE STEP DOWN FOR SDP CANDIDATE, DIRECTS HIS FOLLOWERS ACROSS THE STATE TO VOTE FOR ENGINEER SEGUN ONI.”
READ: How misinformation almost marred 2022 Ekiti governorship election
The claim has surfaced here and here on Facebook with multiple reactions.
CLAIM
Kemi Elebute has stepped down for the SDP candidate and directed her followers to vote Segun Oni.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
Checks by The FactCheckHub show that the governorship candidate of the ADP, Kemi Elebute-Halle had debunked the claim in a tweet obtained from her Twitter handle, @EreluKemiHalle.
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“I’m still in the Governorship race, debunk every contrary news,” she stated.
“I’m still in Governorship race, debunk every contrary news”
ADP Candidate declareshttps://t.co/2t25FgRRrc
— EreluKemiHalle (@EreluKemiHalle) June 18, 2022
The Cable newspaper also reported that Elebute-Halle cast her vote earlier today at the polling unit eight, ward 10 of Ikole LGA in Ekiti state, and did not make any statement about stepping down.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the ADP governorship candidate, Erelu Kemi Elebute-Halle, has stepped down for the SDP governorship candidate, Segun Oni, is FALSE.
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.
, Erelu Kemi Elebute-Halle, has stepped down for a rival, Segun Oni at the ongoing governorship election in Ekiti State.){kind=link}