AN X user, @prudenceoflago3, has posted a video purportedly showing Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, engaging in a fisticuffs and heated exchange with a former Kogi Senator, Dino Melaye, when they were both in the National Assembly.
The video is being circulated in connection with recent remarks by the First Lady over allegations of sexual harassment involving Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and the controversy surrounding the Senate’s seating arrangement.
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The post was shared alongside a caption thus:
“in case APC urchins have forgotten their first lady remi tinubu fought dirty in the Senate stripping Dino melaye naked because of small issues…
The Akpabio led senate is now worst that one could think of! Ahmed lawan was a joke”
The post has generated over 270,000 views with more than 3,000 likes, plus over 2,600 reposts and more than 300 comments as of March 16, 2025.
CLAIM
Video shows Oluremi Tinubu in a fisticuffs with Dino Melaye in the Senate.
THE FINDINGS
Checks by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING, as the video does not show Oluremi Tinubu and Dino Melaye involved in any fisticuffs.
The video in the claim resurfaced following widespread criticism of Mrs Tinubu when she commented on Natasha’s sexual allegation against Nigeria’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
During a recent TV appearance on AriseNews, Natasha accused Akpabio of inappropriate conduct, sparking national rage and calls for a thorough investigation. In response, Mrs Tinubu reportedly stated that the Senate is a “matured chamber” where “things like that” should not be heard, emphasizing that the institution should be treated with respect. She further advised women to assert themselves to prevent men from addressing them inappropriately.
To verify the claim, our researcher observed that the video shared was very blurry that one could hardly identify the people in the footage. The only easily established concept in the video is the setting of the National Assembly.
When our researcher ran keywords search “Lawmakers fought in the National Assembly” on Google search, it led to a Channels TV video that showed the original footage. The video depicts PDP lawmakers engaged in a brawl in the House of Representatives in 2013 over emergence of factions within the party.
The woman identified from the video is Binta Masi Garba, a lawmaker from Kaduna State and the then leader of the pro-Baraje nPDP faction. The man with whom she engaged in a fisticuffs and whose cloth was torn was Afeez Adelowo Onaara, a lawmaker from Oyo State.
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According to a news report that also confirms the fisticuffs, the 2013 crisis within the then Nigeria’s ruling political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was marked by internal leadership disputes, disagreements over power rotation, and dissatisfaction with the party’s administration led by Bamanga Tukur. Tensions escalated when seven governors of G7 and other prominent members staged a walkout during the party’s national convention and formed a faction known as the New PDP (nPDP), which was led by Abubakar Kawu Baraje.
Additionally, our researcher observed that the fisticuffs happened in the lower chamber of the National Assembly while Oluremi Tinubu and Dino Melaye were senators in the upper chambers.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the video shows Oluremi Tinubu in a fisticuffs with Dino Melaye is MISLEADING, as the footage actually depicts PDP members Binta Masi and Afeez Adelowo engaging in a confrontation in the lower chamber over PDP factions in 2013.
