A popular columnist with The Nation newspaper, Sam Omatseye has tweeted a photo with a claim that it shows Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari’s nephew, Mamman Daura, giving orders to the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
His tweet (now deleted) archived here read:
“Look at how the head of the said Cabal, Mamman Daura, is directing the Governor without a state, Emefiele, on what to do. These Aso rock folks are seriously working against BAT not to succeed Buhari. The same folks who have been using Buhari name in carrying out shady deal.”
CLAIM
Photo shows Mamman Daura giving orders to Emefiele.
THE FINDINGS
Checks by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
A Google reverse image search shows that the image has been online since 2015.
According to a report by Sahara Reporters, the photo shows Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele with Ismaila Isa Funtua (now late) and former Nigeria’s Chief of Army staff, Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, during President Buhari’s official visit to the United States in 2015.
The photo shows Emefiele in a conversation with the late Funtua, a close associate of President Buhari and Second Republic minister, who was part of the president’s entourage during the visit.
Funtua was a Katsina-born newspaper publisher and industrialist who died in 2020. He was also a minister under the civilian administration of Shehu Shagari and a member of the 1994-1995 Constitutional Conference. He was also the Chairman of the popular construction company, Bulet International (Nigeria) Limited.
THE VERDICT
The claim by Sam Omatseye that the photo shows Mamman Daura giving orders to Godwin Emefiele is FALSE; the image shows Emefiele with the late Ismaila Funtua having a conversation.
*This report was republished from the FactCheckHub, read the original here.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.