Nigeria elections 2023

Clip shows crowd attacked Nigerian ruling party elder, not its national chairman

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on December 16, 2022 at 14:50
  • 2 min read
  • By Fikayo OWOEYE, AFP Nigeria

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Ahead of Nigeria’s general election in February, disinformation involving political parties has also been on the rise. One video circulating on social media purportedly shows the national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu, being beaten and stripped by party supporters. But this claim is false: AFP Fact Check found that the man in the footage is not Adamu but Abubakar Abu Giza, a fellow leader within the party in Nasarawa state.

“BREAKING NEWS: APC National Chairman stripped Naked in Nasarawa State over multiple crises rocking the party in the state (sic),” reads a tweet shared with a video on December 9, 2022.

A screenshot of the false tweet, taken on December 15, 2022

The clip shows a crowd carrying campaign posters and sporting the colours of the APC. The footage focuses on a man with torn clothes being jostled while someone tries to provide cover.

“Some of the members said they don’t want Bola Tinubu as presidential candidate,” the tweet adds.

The Twitter account behind the post has a history of sharing content favourable to Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, but critical of the APC and its candidate, Tinubu.

The 12-second clip was also shared on Facebook and TikTok.

In February 2023, Nigerians will elect President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor alongside governors for the majority of the 36 states, and federal and state lawmakers, in February next year.

The Nasarawa state chapter of the APC has been embroiled in a series of internal crises fueled by aggrieved members of the party who felt cheated during the primary elections held in May 2022.

But the claim that the video shows Adamu being stripped and heckled is false.

Mistaken identity

Using video verification tool InVID-WeVerify, AFP Fact Check ran reverse image searches on keyframes from the video and traced the footage to various news reports about the incident.

According to the articles, it was senior APC member Abubakar Abu Giza – and not Adamu – who was stripped naked, “molested” and humiliated on December 8, 2022, by youths alleged to be APC supporters in Lafia, Nasarawa state.

Giza is the leader of A.A Sule Progressives Forum, a group loyal to the incumbent governor of the state, Abdullahi Sule. Nasarawa is currently under the control of the APC. Adamu is a former governor of the state.

A screenshot of Adamu, left, and Giza in the video

APC state chairman John Mamman condemned the attack on Giza in a press statement, saying “the party is disheartened by the embarrassment meted on our revered elder-statesman; Alh Abu Giza at the emir’s palace, Lafia (sic)”.

An Adamu aide Nata’ala Mohammed confirmed to AFP Fact Check the incident involved Giza.

“This unfortunate misplacement of the true physical look of the person of Adamu is not in any way to be linked to him,” Mohammed said.

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