ON August 30, 2023, an X user, @MosesInna posted a photo showing some protesters holding placards with a claim that it shows Nigerians based in the United States protesting over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s academic certificate controversy.
Some of the protesters held placards with different messages such as “Democracy under threat in Nigeria”, “Let Nigerian votes count”, and “Nigerians reject the election result”.
Some held the Nigerian flag while others held the American flag in front of the White House in what appeared to be a call for the review of Nigeria’s 2023 general election.
The post was captioned thus:
“BREAKING: Peaceful protest at the Chicago State University by Nigerians living in the US.”
The tweet has generated over 600 reposts and more than 1,000 likes as of August 31, 2023.
THE CLAIM
Photo shows Nigerians in the US protesting over Tinubu’s academic certificate controversy.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by the FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
There has been criticisms over time among Nigerians on whether the Nigerian president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, graduated legitimately from Chicago State University. This is despite the confirmation by the University that the president graduated from the school.
The Punch reported on Tuesday that the University locked its X microblogging handle following pressure from Nigerians especially supporters of the opposition party over Tinubu’s controversial certificate from the institution.
Checks conducted using Google Reverse Image search show that the photo revealed the moment when supporters of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of Labour Party, staged a protest at the White House and Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., in April to reject Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election results.
Several media platforms such as TheCable reported that the protesters insisted that Tinubu did not meet the constitutional requirements for the presidency, thereby questioning his legitimacy.
The FactCheckHub ran a search on the internet but found no credible media report regarding the purported recent protest over President Tinubu’s certificate as of the time of filing this fact-check.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the image shows Nigerians in the United States protesting over President Tinubu’s certificate controversy is FALSE; the photo has been online since April 2023.
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.
