By Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition
Ahead of Edo State Governorship Election slated for September 21, the Nigeria Fact-Checkers’ Coalition checks misinformation and disinformation online and offline as voters go to the poll in the state.
Our team of journalists, researchers, fact-checkers, social media monitors, editors, and OSINT experts drawn from the coalition partners, are working from the Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition’s (NFC) Election Situation Rooms located in Abuja and Lagos, to debunk election-related misinformation and disinformation content targeted at causing voter apathy, inciting violence or influencing the outcome of election in Edo State.
You can read the election day fact-checks HERE
Do you have an election-related claim you want us to fact-check?
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This page is constantly being updated with verified checks. Kindly scroll downward to read them. Here are the live-checks:
CLAIM: The African Action Congress (AAC) governorship candidate in the 2024 Edo State governorship election, UdohOberaifo, claimed that the approved Edo budget for 2024 is N325 billion.
VERDICT: Incorrect #EdoDecides2024 #FactChecking #NFC pic.twitter.com/SKFRbkBF0U
— The ICIR (@TheICIR) September 21, 2024
Claim 12
Did PDP win Akoko Edo in 2020 governorship election?
CLAIM: An X user claimed the current governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, won the 2020 elections in Akoko Edo Local Government for the PDP and thus a stronghold of the PDP.
THE FINDINGS: INEC’s final result for the 2020 governorship election in Edo state shows the APC won the election in Akoko Edo LGA with 22,953 votes while the PDP got 20,101 votes.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCE: INEC
Claim 11
Did Labour party candidate withdraw from the election?
CLAIM: A viral press statement is claiming the Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata has withdrawn from Saturday’s governorship election and endorsed the PDP’s candidate. It is being shared on Facebook and X.
THE FINDINGS: Checks show the statement was forged using one of the public statements released and signed by Akpata. The statement also carries two different dates. On the upper part reads 20th September 2024, while the bottom part reads July 29, 2024.
Zekeri Idris Junior, head of the Labour Party’s campaign media team, told NFC that the viral statement was not authored by Akpata noting that the claim is false. He added that the party’s candidate is still in the race.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCE: Labour Party’s campaign media team.
Claim 10
Did INEC disqualify PDP candidate on the eve of election?
CLAIM: An X user, @BigBrother_M007, claims Nigeria’s Supreme Court disqualified the PDP’s governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, on the eve of the 2024 Edo governorship election.
THE FINDINGS: A suit challenging the candidacy of Mr. Ighodalo in the 2024 Edo election was dismissed by a Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal for lack of merit. Both dismissals were widely reported in the media.
There is no evidence of the apex court sitting on the matter or any other matter as of 20th September 2024. Mr. Ighodalo remains on INEC’s final list of candidates.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCES: TVC News, ThisDay, INEC
Claim 9
CLAIM: An X user, Akpakominza, claimed that Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Edo state, distributed a trailer load of rice hoarded by the incumbent Edo state’s governor, Godwin Obaseki.
THE FINDINGS: The NFC ran a Reverse Image search on a keyframe from the video and verified that Mr Okpebholo is the distributor. Also, the inscription on the packaged bag from the trailer in the video reads, “Federal Government of Nigeria Food Security Programme.”
However, as available facts indicate, there is no evidence to verify the bag’s content. An advanced keyword search about the initiative found on the bag’s inscription led to the National Food Security Programme, a Federal Government initiative established in 2008 to tackle food insecurity in the country and boost the agriculture sector through special interventions. These interventions did not focus on the provision of rice alone but on overhauling the agricultural sector in Nigeria.
Also, the statement that Okpebholo (APC) distributed rice hoarded by Mr Obaseki (PDP) to conclude his campaign raises an eyebrow because PDP is fielding Asue Ighodalo, who has the governor’s full support.
VERDICT: INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
SOURCE: Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
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Claim 8
Did Imo state governor send police to rig Edo election?
CLAIM: An X user, Uromi First Son, posted two videos showing a police armoured personnel carrier, with the inscription indicating it was donated by the Imo State government. The narrator claimed that the Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma sent the vehicle to rig the Edo election.
THE FINDINGS: A reverse image of the keyframes of the video yielded no result. But using a landmark in the video, the Austrock Market and Google map, we determined that the police armoured personnel carrier was on Benin City-Ehor Road, Avbiama, Benin City, Edo State when the video was shot.
Media reports show that the Imo State government donated such vehicles to the Nigerian police in August 2022 and again in June 2024. The police deployed 35,000 personnel for the Edo election drawn from different states. It is however not out-of-place to find police officers and operational vehicles from other states in Edo during this election period.
Therefore, the claim that the Imo governor sent the police vehicle to rig the Edo election is not backed by sufficient evidence.
VERDICT: INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
SOURCES: EON INTELLIGENCE, PUNCH
Claim 7
Are vigilante banned in Edo state?
CLAIM: An X user, @X_Dailly posted a video with the caption that the Federal Government has banned Edo State vigilante.
THE FINDINGS: On September 12, 2024, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun announced that no private or state-owned security organisation would be permitted to operate during and after the September 21 governorship election in Edo State. The IGP announced during a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Benin City. He added that “all local security groups in Edo State should refrain from participating in the election. The activities of the Edo State Security Network are suspended and will remain so.”
However, the Edo State government has challenged the IGP’s announcement. They argued that it is unconstitutional for the IGP to make such a declaration, insisting that the ESSN is a body set up by law passed by the Edo state House of Assembly”.
VERDICT: CORRECT
SOURCES: The Cable, Daily Trust, Channels TV
Claim 6
Did INEC deploy REC from APC states?
CLAIM: An X user, @OladepoTaiwo15, claims INEC deployed five resident electoral commissioners (RECs) from APC states – Kaduna, Nasarawa, Yobe, Ondo, and Ebonyi – to the Edo state elections. The social media user warned the PDP to “watch out”.
THE FINDINGS: Adenike Tadese, INEC’s deputy director of publicity, confirmed to the NFC that the commissioners were deployed from the states to Edo but clarified that the RECs are randomly selected from different states, and are not affiliated to any political party.
VERDICT: MISLEADING.
SOURCE: INEC
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Claim 5
Is unemployment rate in Edo state a little above 20%?
CLAIM: Isaiah Osifo, the Edo gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) said the unemployment rate in Edo State is a little over 20 per cent.
THE FINDINGS: The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for Q4 2020 showed that the unemployment rate in Edo is 49.02 per cent while the underemployment rate stood at 15.86%. Recent data available has no breakdown for Nigerian States.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCE: National Bureau of Statistics
Claim 4
Did Tinubu sign peace accord?
CLAIM: The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, claimed that President Bola Tinubu did not sign a peace accord when he was a presidential candidate in 2023. He disclosed this while speaking at the 2024 Edo Election Security Townhall organised by Channels TV on Sept 15.
THE FINDINGS: Checks by the NFC show that two peace accords were signed by presidential candidates to prevent violence during Nigeria’s 2023 general election. Tinubu was absent at the first one organised by the National Peace Committee held on September 29, 2022. He was, however, represented by his vice, Kashim Shettima.
However, Tinubu was present at the signing of the second pact held on February 23, 2023.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCES: TheCable, The Punch
Claim 3
Did Edo women resist arrest of PDP chieftain?
CLAIM: Ada Obowo, an X user, shares a viral video claiming that Edo women resisted Nigerian police officers from arresting a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader in Ikpoba-Okha Ward 2 ahead of Saturday’s election in Edo State.
THE FINDINGS: Checks by the NFC using a Google Reverse Image tool reveal an earlier version of the video posted on X on Sept. 17, 2024. Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the Nigerian Police spokesman, remarked under the post that the policemen in the video were on official duty. His comment was, however, not connected to the apprehension of a PDP leader as claimed.
According to Adejobi, the police officers are IRT operatives who are investigating the killing of a policeman at the Benin Airport in July 2024. “We have secured a warrant of arrest on him. The men eventually left him when the place became crowdy,” says Adejobi.
VERDICT: MISLEADING
SOURCE: Olumuyiwa Adejobi, Nigeria Police Force spokesperson.
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Claim 2
Does video show Tinubu asking resident to reject Obaseki in 2024?
CLAIM: An X user, @idofoi posted a video purportedly showing Tinubu asking Edo voters to reject Obaseki in Saturday’s Edo gubernatorial poll.
THE FINDINGS: A Google Reverse Image search conducted on the keyframes obtained from the video shows that the footage has been online since September 15, 2020 during the last gubernatorial election in Edo state. An earlier version of the video originally posted by TVC shows Tinubu addressing residents of Edo State urging them not to vote for Obaseki, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate at the time.
VERDICT: MISLEADING
SOURCE: TVC News
Claim 1
Is Edo 2024 budget N325 billion?
CLAIM: The African Action Congress (AAC) governorship candidate in the 2024 Edo State governorship election, Udoh Oberaifo, claimed that the approved Edo budget for 2024 is N325 billion.
THE FINDINGS: According to the official document published by the Edo State Government on March 25, 2023, the total approved budget for 2024 was N342.8 billion.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCE: Edo State Government FY 2024 Approved Budget (www.edostate.gov.ng)
*This live-check was jointly researched and written by members of the Nigerian Fact-Checkers’ Coalition (NFC): Nurudeen Akewushola, Fatimah Quadri (FactCheckHub); Elizabeth Ogunbamowo, Cole Praise, Lateef Sanni, Lademi Aborisade, Philip Anjorin, Silas Jonathan, Sunday Awosoro, Mohammed Taoheed, Amarachi Onwuzulike, Asiat Jimoh (Dubawa); Catherine Adeniyi, Motunrayo Joel, Allwell Okpi, Adelola Semilore, Denzel Amobi, Muktar Balogun (Africa Check); Caleb Ijioma, Precious Ewuji, Agbelusi Samuel (RoundCheck); Orji Ruth (NatureFacts); Ayodele Oluwafemi, Claire Mom (The Cable); Faruk Shuaibu (Daily Trust); Kamal Idress (WikkiTimes); Hannah Ajakaiye, Olayinka Oladokun, Efemena Ighofose (FactsMatterNG); Pascal Ibe and Blessing Otoibhi (ICIR); and Rosemary Ajayi (Digital Africa Research Lab).
It was edited and approved for publication by Kemi Busari, Lois Ugbede (Dubawa), David Ajikobi (Africa Check), Ajibola Amzat (CCIJ), Opeyemi Kehinde (FactCheckHub) and Bamas Victoria (ICIR).