A video clip showing a man shedding tears while delivering a speech has surfaced online with a claim that it shows the ex-finance Minister of Niger Republic crying over failure to account for government’s spending.
The claim is contained in a social media post shared on X (formerly Twitter) by an online user.
According to the claim, the Nigerien military has given the former minister a 48-hour ultimatum to give his stewardship account as head of the nation’s finance ministry or face execution.
The video is circulating following the recent coup in Niger Republic.
A popular activist, Mahdi Shehu with the username: @shehu_mahdi tweeted the video with a caption that read:
“EVERY DAY FOR THE THIEF…Below is the Finance minister of Niger Republic, having been told by the new military Junta to account for all the stolen money of the country in the next 48 hrs or face execution by firing squad. In other countries, he will retain his seat and enjoy.”
The tweet has generated over 700,000 views, over 3,600 retweets, and more than 5,000 likes as of July 30, 2023.
Another X user, Olaudah Equiano, with the username: @RealOlaudah tweeted the video with a caption thus:
“Minister of finance in Niger Republic given 48hrs by the coup plotters to account for the stolen money of Niger people or face execution by firing squad. We’re back to square one!”
The tweet has generated over 1.7 million views, more than 3,000 retweets and over 5,000 likes as of July 30, 2023.
Gidi, a popular X page, tweeted the same video with a caption that read:
“Niger Republic’s Finance Minister, Ahmat Jidoud cried after the Military told him to account for all the money in the next 48 hours or face execution by firing squad. Thoughts?”
The tweet has also garnered over 180,000 views as of July 30, 2023.
CLAIM
Video shows Nigerien minister of Finance crying over failure to account for public spending.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
A Google reverse image search using the video’s thumbnail shows that the footage has been online since at least December 2021. An earlier version of the video can be viewed here and here.
Analysis of the video content shows that the man in the video is Niger’s ex-minister of Justice, Marou Amadou and not the nation’s former minister of Finance, Ahmat Jidoud.
Further checks revealed that the video clip is unrelated to the July 2023 military coup in the West African country.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the viral video shows Nigerien minister of Finance crying after being forced to account for public spending is FALSE; findings indicate that the video has been online since 2021 and is unrelated to the recent coup d’état in the country.
This fact-check is republished from FactCheckHub.
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 nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.