COLLATION of election results is ongoing following the conduct of Nigeria’s 2023 Governorship and State Assembly Elections held on Saturday, March 18, 2023.

The Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition (NFC) brings you live-check of election-related misinformation and disinformation spreading online.

Read the election day live check HERE

Do you have an election-related claim you want us to fact-check?

Reach the NFC via HERE.

This page is constantly being updated with verified checks. 

Claim 15

CLAIM: Viral social media posts claim a young man defeated the incumbent speaker, Yobe State House of Assembly, Ahmed Lawan Mirwa, in the polls.

FINDING: A report by TheCable confirms that the current speaker of the Yobe State House of Assembly, Mr Mirwa, lost his reelection bid for the Nguru state constituency II. Musa Lawan,  the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), won instead. Mr Lawan polled 6,648 votes, while Mr Mirwa got 6,466 votes.

Mr Lawan’s details on the INEC list showed that he is 32 years old.

VERDICT: CORRECT

SOURCES: The Cable Newspaper,  Premium Times

Claim 14

CLAIM: A Twitter user, @Theoladeledada, claims that Oladipupo Olatunde is the governor-elect of Ogun state.

FINDINGS: Checks on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) website show that Oladipupo Olatunde Adebutu is the governorship candidate of the PDP in Ogun state.

When the NFC contacted Oluwaseyi Afolabi, CODE observer in Ogun state, she clarified that as of 3:30 pm today, no winner had been declared at the INEC collation centre in the state.

Meanwhile, voting data on INEC’s result viewing portal (IReV) shows that, as of 3.05 pm, results from 4,931 polling units out of 5,042 in the state have been uploaded.

VERDICT: INCORRECT

SOURCE: INEC IReV Portal

Claim 13

CLAIM: A Twitter user @goldmyneTV posted a video of people celebrating in Yola, claiming that Aishatu Dahiru, popularly known as Binani, has become the first female governor to be elected.

FINDINGS: INEC did not announce Binani as the governor-elect of Adamawa state. According to the Premium Times report, as of 4pm on Sunday, only ten local governments have been announced out of Adamawa’s 21 local governments. In the report, PDP’s candidate and incumbent governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, currently leads with 186,536 votes, while APC’s Binani has 179,264.

VERDICT: Incorrect

SOURCE: Premium Times

Claim 12

CLAIM: Social media users claim a man named Chude has been kidnapped by the State Criminal Investigation Department in Anambra state.

FINDINGS: Chude (Nnamdi Chude), is a vocal voice for the Labour Party and Peter Obi on Twitter.

The Public Relations Officer of Anambra State Police Command,  Ikenganyia Tochukwu has not replied the NFC’s messages. However, Prof Chukwuma Charles Soludo, the governor of Anambra State, confirmed that Chude was arrested on 18 March 2023 in Anambra by the Cyber Crime Unit of Interpol and taken to Abuja.

VERDICT: CORRECT

SOURCE: Anambra state governor

Claim 11

CLAIM: A Twitter user, @DeeOneAyekooto, claims that Jigawa State’s final results have been declared as follows: APC 460,302; PDP 275,776.

FINDINGS: As of 6:29pm on Sunday, results on INEC’s IReV show that only 11 LGA results have been uploaded out of 27 LGAs. Also, no credible media platforms have reported the final results in Jigawa state.

VERDICT: INCORRECT

SOURCE: INEC IReV portal

Claim 10

CLAIM: A Twitter user, @ObrusMados, claims that Shittu Rukayat is the youngest member of the state House of Assembly in the whole of Nigeria.

FINDINGS: Yusuf Adebisi, a lawmaker in Oyo State House of Assembly, was the youngest state legislator when he was elected in 2019 at age 25 to represent Ibadan South West Constituency 1. However, Shittu Rukayat, 26, who was declared winner of the Kwara State House of Assembly election, is the youngest state legislator to be elected in 2023.

VERDICT: CORRECT

SOURCES: Tribune, Punch newspaper.

Claim 9

CLAIM: Twitter users have shared a photo of people holding placards and protesting against Igbos in Lagos.

The photo was shared in connection with pockets of clashes in Lagos during the governorship election on Saturday.

FINDINGS: TinEye and Google reverse image searches show the picture has been on the internet since 2015 and is unrelated to Saturday’s elections. The photo was shared on Nairaland, a Nigerian internet forum, in 2015.

VERDICT: MISLEADING

SOURCES: Nairaland, TinEye, Google Reverse Image

Claim 8

CLAIM: A Twitter user, @Mmadudili, claims that Labour Party’s candidate, Kelvin Chukwu, has been declared the winner of Enugu East Senatorial election.

FINDINGS: The Punch Newspaper has reported that former Enugu State governor and Senator, Chimaroke Nnamani, lost his re-election bid to Kelvin Chukwu of the Labour Party.  Leadership Newspaper also confirms Labour Party’s victory.

VERDICT: CORRECT

SOURCES: Punch, Leadership Newspaper

Claim 7

CLAIM: A Twitter user, Love Chijioke (@Realsnowlove1), suggests the PDP scored 30,000 votes in the Enugu State gubernatorial election when less than 13,323 votes were cast in the presidential elections.

FINDINGS: The latest report by PREMIUM TIMES (published around 4pm on Sunday) on the Enugu gubernatorial elections indicates that results are still being collated. Results gathered from eight (8) out of the 17 local governments show that PDP had at the time of the report polled 66,907 votes. Meanwhile, PREMIUM TIMES reported  that a total number of 468,891 votes were cast in the presidential election in Enugu state. The PUNCH newspapers also recorded the same report, stating 456,424 as valid votes, 12, 467 invalid, and 468, 891 as the total votes cast.

VERDICT: INCORRECT

SOURCES: Premium Times, Punch newspaper

Claim 6

CLAIM: Twitter users claim Alex Otti, Abia state governorship candidate of the Labour Party, has been declared the winner.

FINDINGS: Voting data available on the result viewing portal (IReV) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shows results from 1,844 polling units in the state, out of 4,062, have been uploaded as of 9:30pm on Saturday.

Also, the purported declaration of the candidate as the election winner has not been published by any credible media platform. The CODE election observer in the state, Ugochukwu Favour, told the NFC on Saturday at 11 p.m. that collation is still ongoing at the ward level. Thus, a winner is yet to be declared.

VERDICT: INCORRECT

SOURCE: INEC IReV portal

Claim 5

CLAIM: A Twitter user, IperuBoy (@Iperu_Boy), claims that the APC gubernatorial candidate in Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, led thugs to snatch ballot boxes at Iperu, Ikenne local government.

FINDINGS: Punch Journalist Ojuroungbe Sodiq, who was at the scene, stated that although thugs snatched ballot boxes, it was difficult to ascertain who was responsible. Also, Abiodun did not appear in the pictures attached to the tweet.

VERDICT: MISLEADING

SOURCES: Punch Journalist, Google Lens

Claim 4

CLAIM: A Twitter user claims Anthony Chinasa Abiola is Yoruba representing Umuahia Central Constituency in Abia State House of Assembly under the Labour Party.

FINDINGS: In a 1:10 minute YouTube clip by Television Continental (TVC News),  Chinasa clarified that he is not Yoruba. Chinasa, who spoke from 0:34 onwards, added that he is not of mixed ethnicity but fully Igbo.

VERDICT: INCORRECT

SOURCE: TVC News

Claim 3

CLAIM: Twitter user, Kelechi Favour (@kclove_diamond), shared an AIT video capturing a staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) caught with ballot papers and election materials in Olamaboro, Kogi State.

FINDINGS: The NFC contacted a Connected Development (CODE) observer, Umar Muhammed, in Kogi, who confirmed that the incident occurred. He explained that the man allegedly a local government Chairman directed him to commit the act. The video is featured on AIT Live’s YouTube page.

VERDICT: CORRECT

SOURCES: AIT Live and CODE observer

Claim 2

CLAIM: A Twitter user, Chinaza #PeterObi-HypeMan (@MuchTalksBlog1), claims that Wasiu Ayinde, Nigerian Fuji singer, was among the thugs who came to disrupt the election on Saturday.

FINDINGS: The one-minute-long video the claimant shared did not show that the Fuji singer was present at the location. Additionally, no reports from any credible media platform suggest or disclose Ayinde’s role in ballot snatching during yesterday’s election.

Reacting to the allegation, Kunle Rasheed, the singer’s spokesperson, debunked the claims on his Facebook page, reiterating that Mr Ayinde will never partake in such an act nor endorse it.

VERDICT: INCORRECT

SOURCES: OSINT, Mr Ayinde’s spokesperson

Claim 1

CLAIM: A Twitter user, TIFE (@ZeekiHodl), claims that Olumide Oworu is not the INEC-approved Labour Party’s candidate for Surulere, Lagos state House of Assembly.

FINDINGS: Premium Times’ report revealed that Oworu was not included in INEC’s final list of contestants. This was also confirmed by Daily Trust’s report, which stated that  Adebayo Bode is the approved LP’s candidate for Surulere 1 Constituency.

VERDICT: CORRECT

SOURCES: Premium Times, Daily Trust

*This live-check was jointly researched and written by members of the Nigerian Fact-Checkers’ Coalition (NFC): Nurudeen Akewushola, Faith Abeka, Fatimah Quadri (FactCheckHub); Rosemary Ajayi (Digital Africa Research Lab); Daniel Adaji (The Insight); Elizabeth Ogunbamowo, Lois Ugbede, Cole Praise, Silas Jonathan, Temilade Onilede, Lateef Sanni (Dubawa); Catherine Adeniyi, Motunrayo Joel, Allwell Okpi, Seyi Awojuyigbe, Fatimah Abubakar, Abisola Olasupo (Africa Check); Faruk Shuaibu (Daily Trust); Felix Tola-Winjobi (CDD); Rejoice Ewodage, Hannah Ajakaiye (FactsMatterNG); Bunmi Aduloju (The Cable); Shehu Olayinka and Bamas Victoria (ICIR).

It was edited and approved for publication by Kemi Busari, Caroline Anipah, Simbiat Bakare (Dubawa), David Ajikobi (Africa Check), Ajibola Amzat, and Opeyemi Kehinde (FactCheckHub).