An image showing African leaders has been shared online alongside claims that it shows the African Union (AU) rejecting Bola Tinubu as the president-elect of Nigeria.
According to the post, the AU also banned the exportation of goods and services from Nigeria to all other African partners.
Background
The General Elections in Nigeria comprise the presidential election and the House of Assembly was held on 25 February 2023.
Nigeria being the most populous black nation in the world and the largest economy in Africa has seen the elections attract a lot of foreign observers, from within the continent and Europe.
One of those observers is the African Union, (AU), launched on 9 July 2002 in Durban, South Africa, the AU comprises 55 member states with the aim to promote unity and solidarity between African states.
The African Union sends some of its members who are also Heads of State or ex-head of state to observe elections across all its member states as it is part of its goal of achieving long-lasting peace in Africa.
Claim: The African Union has rejected the result that declared Tinubu as president-elect.
Verification
As part of its policy, the AU sent Uhuru Kenyatta, the former president of Kenya, and its team to observe the elections in Nigeria.
The head of the African Union Observation Mission Uhuru Kenyatta together with former president Goodluck Jonathan paid the president-elect visit on February 28 speaking during the visit, Goodluck Jonathan said they were meeting stakeholders to call their supporters for peace and calm after the results were announced.
He also expresses concerns as violence was reported in some parts of the country.
The African Union released a press statement on March 1, 2023, calling all candidates and parties to appeal to their supporters to exercise maximum constraint from mis/disinformation.
A preliminary statement was also released where they laid out their findings as observers in the election but there was no press release by the African Union rejecting Bola Tinubu as president-elect.
The photo used in the said press release is from a 2020 opinion piece by a writer from DW media. There is also no evidence that the African Union has closed its office in Nigeria nor has it banned Nigerian goods from being exported to their countries.
Verdict
This claim is false; there is no evidence of the said press release from the African Union. The African Union’s presser is public and it does not reject the election. It only calls on “candidates to settle electoral disputes through peaceful means and dialogue, in accordance with the law”