On November 9, 2023, barely 48 hours before the governorship election in Bayelsa state, the CDD War Room received a claim that bags of rice received as part of the palliative package from the Federal government were being shared.
The Facebook user shared the images with the caption, “PDP is currently loading federal government palliative rice from the warehouse opposite INEC road by express to villages to deceive voters. Diri’s face is encrypted on every bag of rice. Very wicked set of people, they kept the palliative deliberately for vote buying…..Bayelsans is your rice take it and vote this useless government of hunger and poverty out. Sylva is the real deal.”
Claim: PDP shares palliative rice received from the federal government with the face of its candidate
Verification:
The CDD War Room can confirm that the PDP is sharing rice to their supporters. Our “Soldiers of Mouth” at the Adaka Boro Expressway, the distribution venue, confirmed that the distribution would cover all local governments where their supporters are located. However, the images attached to the claim were not from the venue of distribution. We found that the images attached to the claim date back to August 27, 2023, when residents attacked and looted the warehouse in Bayelsa state. The incident from which the images originated occurred at a private warehouse in the Kpansia area of Yenagoa, where the people carted away food items stored in the facility. CDD War Room recalls that in a statement after the warehouse was attacked, Bayelsa State Emergency Management Agency (BYSEMA) said the stolen items included rice and garri that were no longer fit for consumption.
Attached below are the images of the rice distribution taken by the CDD Soldiers of Mouth.
Verdict: MISLEADING
The CDD War Room can confirm that rice was being distributed to partisan supporters in Bayelsa State. However, the images being circulated with the picture of a candidate are from a past incident relating to attack on a warehouse.
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