TUNDE Ednut, a popular social media influencer and blogger, has claimed that the House of Representatives has split Oyo state into two states.
He made the claim in a post on Instagram as a caption to a 2+ minutes long video.
In the video, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abass could be heard seeking the motion to pass the bill through a second reading.
Part of the video transcribed reads thus:
“The second order of the day is commencement of debate on the general principles of a bill for an act to alter the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended to create new Oyo state with Oyo town as the capital city from Oyo state. Effect consequential change of the name of the remaining part of Oyo state to Ibadan state with Ibadan city as capital city and define the local government areas comprising the two states and for related matters. Standing in the name of in the names of Honorable Adeyemi Akeem Adeniyi and six others.
Honourable members who recall that the bill was read the first time on Thursday, October 10, 2024. I now invite Honourable Adeniyi to move that the bill be read a second time.”
The caption alongside the video read:
BREAKING NEWS!!! New Oyo State/ Oyo Town as the Capital. Ibadan State/ Ibadan as the Capital.
This is followed by the inscription on the video which reads Breaking : Reps split Oyo state into 2
The post as at Wednesday, October 23, 2024, has gained a traction of over 52,000 likes, 6,327 comments and 10,800 reshares.
CLAIM
House of Representatives split Oyo state into 2 states.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub shows that the claim is MISLEADING!
On Tuesday, October 22 2024, media organisations like The Cable, Premium Times and The Punch reported that a bill proposing the division of Oyo into two new states has passed its second reading in the House of Representatives.
Co-sponsored by Akeem Adeyemi from Oyo and six other lawmakers, the constitutional amendment bill was advanced during Tuesday’s plenary session. The bill aims to create a New Oyo state, with Oyo town as its capital, while renaming the remaining part of the state as Ibadan State, with Ibadan city as the capital.
In Nigeria, for a bill be passed to an act it has to pass through several stages such as the ;
- Proposal stage, or the identification for the need of a bill
- First reading
- Second reading
- Committee stage : where the analysis of the bill may include a public hearing where members of the public are invited to provide input, with their feedback being considered in the review process.
- Third reading
- Signing of the bill
- Presidential assent; The approved version of the bill from both chambers is sent to the president for signature. The president’s signature is necessary to turn the bill into law, and according to Section 58(4) of the Constitution, the president must sign the bill within 30 days of receiving it.
Currently, the bill to split Oyo state into two has not been assented and the minority leader, Tajudeen Abass, has only forwarded the bill to the Committee on Constitutional Review for additional legislative action.
While the contents of the video are accurate, the keywords and captions used by the claimant depicts otherwise thereby making the headline misleading and a clickbait.
Clickbait headlines typically emphasize sensationalism rather than accuracy, contributing to the spread of disinformation. This approach can distort public perception of various issues, as readers might focus solely on misleading headlines without grasping the actual facts behind them.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the House of Representatives split Oyo state into 2 states is misleading; it is a clickbait headline. The bill has only passed its second reading and has been forwarded to the committee on constitutional review.
This report was republished from the Factcheckhub, read it here.
Fatimah Quadri is a Journalist and a Fact-checker at The ICIR. She has written news articles, fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy in an effort to combat information disorder.
She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or fquadri@icirnigeria.org