A picture of men allegedly caught with PVCs in Akwa Ibom state is making the rounds on social media, with supporters of both the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) pointing accusing fingers at each other over the picture.
CrossCheck Nigeria has confirmed that one of the men in the photos is Aniete Isoenang, an ex-officio member of the PDP in the Mpkat Enin local government area of Akwa Ibom state.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s aide on New Media, Laurretta Onochie, shared the picture on her Twitter page, saying INEC should investigate who the men are.
She claimed that about 600 of such PVCs were bought with N1million in Delta state.
In one report, it is claimed that the men in the photo are APC thugs while in another, it is alleged that the men belong to the PDP in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom state.
Different versions of the claim have been shared over 700 times on Twitter and Facebook.
CrossCheck Nigeria (CCN) carried out its investigation and here’s what we found:
A reverse Image search by CrossCheck Nigeria shows that the picture has been used by supporters of the two main political parties, the PDP and the APC.
When CrossCheck Nigeria initially called PDP’s spokesperson, Ini Ememobong, in Akwa Ibom State, he denied that the men in the picture belonged to the party in the state.
However, days later, when he was called again by another reporter known to him, Ememobong confirmed that one of the men in the photograph is, indeed, Aniete Isoenang, an ex-officio member of the party in Mpkat Enin local government area of Akwa Ibom state.
He also confirmed that Isoenang was arrested and paraded by the police but alleged that the PVCs were planted on him by the police to hang charges on him. CrossCheck Nigeria can neither confirm nor deny this allegation.