SAM Omatseye, a renowned Nigerian columnist with The Nation newspaper, has tweeted an image showing Nigeria’s President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and President Muhammadu Buhari with a claim that the photo shows the duo dining in Mecca, Saudi Arabia on April 12, 2023.
The image shows President Buhari and Tinubu sitting at a dining table with varieties of food and drinks on it.
Omatseye tweeted the photo on April 12, 2023 with a caption that read:
“ASIWAJU TINUBU. PRESIDENT ELECT AND PRESIDENT BUHARI AT MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA TODAY, APRIL 12, 2023.”
The tweet has garnered over 800 retweets and more than 100 likes as of Thursday morning on April 13, 2023. The tweet, though now deleted, is archived here.
CLAIM
Photo shows Buhari and Tinubu in Mecca, Saudi Arabia on April 12, 2023.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.
Using Google Reverse Image search, checks by The FactCheckHub show that the image has been online since May 11, 2019.
According to a news report published by Premium Times on May 11, 2019, the picture shows President Buhari breaking Ramadan fast with Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.
The image caption on the media report indicated that the photo was shot by Sunday Aghaeze, President Buhari’s Personal Assistant on Photography on May 10, 2019.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the photo shows Buhari and Tinubu in Mecca, Saudi Arabia on April 12, 2023 is MISLEADING; findings show that though the image is original, it has been online since May 2019.
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.
