A VIRAL post on social media claimed that a former All Progressive Congress (APC) chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, voted for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Edo gubernatorial election held on September 19.
The post with a picture showing Oshiomhole holding the ballot paper thumb printed for the PDP has been shared several times on Twitter and WhatsApp groups.
PDP Vanguard shared the picture on Twitter with the caption: “LOL! Even Oshiomhole is voting for @GovernorObaseki!”
The same picture has been posted by several other Twitter accounts and carried by several blogs and forums.
Oshiomhole voting for PDP will mean he voted for Godwin Obaseki who is the incumbent governor of the state and running for a second term.
The two politicians have been at loggerhead before the election and their disagreement has been widely reported in the news.
THE CLAIM:
That an image shows a former APC Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole voting for PDP in the 2020 Edo Governorship election.
THE FINDINGS:
The FactCheckhub findings revealed that the picture depicting Oshiomhole voting PDP has been manipulated.
A Google reverse image search shows the authentic photo posted by Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, @ptcij the image was rather showing the back of the ballot paper unlike the front page shown in the viral image. Hence, the party he voted for cannot be seen.
@PremiumTimesng @inecnigeria #EdoDecides2020 #EdoElection #Edo2020 pic.twitter.com/Qyfx8kVK3P
— Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (@CJIDAfrica) September 19, 2020
In addition, a video of the same event posted by a Twitter account, APCYF South West @apcyouthomoodua also showed that the viral image was manipulated. In the video, it was the back of the ballot paper that was shown.
THE VERDICT:
The claim that an image shows a former APC Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole voting for PDP in the 2020 Edo Governorship election is FALSE. The image was manipulated.
'Niyi worked with The ICIR as an Investigative Reporter and Fact-checker from 2020 till September 2022. You can shoot him an email via [email protected]. You can as well follow him on Twitter via @niyi_oyedeji.