Man booed outside Nigerian court is opposition politician, not suspended central bank boss

“End Of The Wicked, Emefiele In The Court (sic),” reads a Facebook post shared more than 4,000 times since it was published on June 16, 2023.

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  A screenshot showing the false post, taken on June 20, 2023

The claim also appeared elsewhere on Facebook.

The two minutes of footage included in the posts shows a crowd shouting “Ole”, a Yoruba word widely spoken in southwest Nigeria which translates to “thief”. Security guards can be seen trying to shield an elderly man who looks visibly intimidated by the protesters.

Godwin Emefiele was suspended as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria by President Bola Tinubu on June 9, 2023 (archived here). He remains in detention.

Since his suspension, AFP has debunked various claims about him (here and here).

The latest claim linking him to the video of a crowd jostling outside a courthouse is also false.

Factional chairman

A stamp on the video shows it comes from a TikTok account called “Nationwide380”. AFP Fact Check traced the account and found the video was posted on May 17, 2023, weeks before Emefiele was suspended (archived here).

The caption reads “See how you are disgracing yourself OLE”, but there is no mention of Emefiele in the post.

Using the video verification tool InVID-WeVerify, reverse image searches on keyframes from the clip led to other videos filmed at the same scene, from different angles.

These were described as having been filmed outside a court in Nigeria where Labour Party supporters voiced their displeasure at the arrival of Lamidi Apapa, who has battled rival Julius Abure for control of the party (archived here).

Another video of the chaotic scenes outside court can be seen here (archived here).

The man jeered in the videos is Apapa, not Emefiele.

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A screenshot from the video showing Lamidi Apapa (left) and a picture of Godwin Emefiele by AFP photographer Philip Ojisua (right)

LP controversy

Nigeria’s opposition Labour Party has been split by a leadership tussle between Apapa and Abure who have both claimed to be the legitimate chairman of the party (archived here).

Two months ago a court restrained Abure from asserting himself as the chairman (archived here).

Amid the divisions, the party’s presidential candidate in the February 25 elections, Peter Obi, has challenged the outcome of the vote in court.

Apapa had tried to make an appearance in the court hearing the presidential election petition but he was given a bruising reception from party members loyal to Abure and Obi (archived here).

Abure has since resumed his role as party chairman pending the finalisation of the various court applications to determine the legitimate incumbent (archived here).