Old video shows Tinubu’s reaction to 2019 election win, not 2023 Lagos loss

“Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reaction to Lagos presidential results. 100 percent leadership,” reads a tweet published on February 28, 2023.

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A screenshot of the false tweet, taken on March 1, 2023

Retweeted more than 240 times, the post was shared with a video by a Tinubu supporter.

The 2’20-second clip shows Tinubu speaking to a crowd in his native Yoruba language. He praises certain individuals for ensuring victories in their local councils and chides others for not doing enough.

Tinubu was declared winner of the hotly contested presidential election held on February 25, 2023, ahead of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party's Peter Obi.

Obi defeated Tinubu in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital and traditionally an APC stronghold.

The veteran political operator was seen as instrumental in bringing the APC's factions together to push Buhari to victory in 2015, ending 16 years in power for the rival PDP.

Widely regarded as the godfather of Lagos politics, Tinubu has maintained a tight grip on the state since 1999 where he was governor until 2007.

Since the results of the presidential ballot were officially released on March 1, 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Tinubu have been accused of electoral fraud.

But the claim that the video shows him reacting to the Lagos loss in 2023 is false.

Old video

Using the InVID video verification tool, AFP Fact Check found that the footage is unrelated to this year’s election.

It was published on LinkedIn in 2019. Although the caption only refers to Tinubu as "this man", several commenters identified the person speaking in the video as Tinubu.

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A screenshot of the LinkedIn post, taken on March 1, 2023 

Jubril Gawat, a media aide to the Lagos state governor and known Tinubu supporter, said on Twitter that he recorded the video after the 2019 general elections.

Gawat said it shows Tinubu’s reaction to Buhari winning the presidential election in the state "with a small margin".

Buhari polled 580,825 votes ahead of PDP’s Atiku Abubakar who scored 448,015. He also won the election which handed him a second four-year term.

After the result of the 2023 election in Lagos was announced, Tinubu said the loss showed the essence of democracy.

“As a democrat, you win some, you lose some,” he said in a statement. “We must allow the process to continue unhindered across the country while we maintain peace and decorum.”