On the governorship election day, reports by a Twitter user alleged that the Oro festival held in Lagos state was still ongoing.
The post with over 18,000 interactions claimed that an hour before the start of voter accreditation, activities around the Oro festival were still taking place in Nigeria’s commercial capital.
Background
A few days before the general state elections, rumours concerning election day disruption began making rounds on social media.
According to these reports, the festival which requires women and non-indigenes to be in seclusion would invariably affect voting as a curfew is expected to be implemented.
Clarifying reports on the festival, the traditional ruler of the Ikate-Elegushi Kingdom in Lagos State, Saheed Ademola, affirmed that the March 2023 Oro festival would not affect the governorship elections as it would end at 5 am Saturday morning.
“The restriction is from 12 midnight to 5 am on each day, while residents are free to move before and after this time,” he said.
The traditional ruler further noted that curfews were usually imposed by the government from 12 am to 5 am every election day.
Verification
In verifying the authenticity of the claim, the CDD Election War Room scanned through social media and found that the videos shared by multiple users are one and the same.
Thus, we contacted various observers on the field. Who neither debunked nor confirmed the claim.
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) a few hours ago further assured voters in Lagos State that there won’t be Oro festivities in the state.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, maintained that there was no threat to the governorship and state assembly elections billed for that day, adding that, only one part of the state conducted the Oro festival which he confirmed ended on Friday.
Also, there have been reports of voting in various places in Lagos hence, even in the event of an Oro festival, voters were not prevented from carrying out their civic duties.
Verdict
Due to the unavailability of evidence, the CDD Election War Room could not confirm or debunk the claim that the festival was still ongoing by 7 am. However, reports from observers show that the elections process in many parts of Lagos has begun.
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