Multiple social media accounts have shared images of new naira notes, alongside claims that they were recovered by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), after raiding the residence of Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The trending story, which was primarily framed as news, was disseminated alongside images of EFCC officials performing raids, as well as images of newly-minted currency in vaults.
According to the story, N400 billion was discovered in Tinubu’s home, and that the raid was carried out under the authority of the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari.
Verification
We ran multiple reverse image searches on the images included in the purported news item, to confirm the veracity of the report.
In the course of our investigations, we found that the images attached to the story were actually stock photos from the internet that had been used in several news articles.
The image of the allegedly discovered currencies being circulated was from a recent report on the arrest of a bank manager for hoarding the newly designed currency. On several occasions, the pictures have been included in articles that report on currency seizures by the EFCC.
The images of EFCC officers purportedly at Tinubu’s house are the images used in the news article which reported the arrest of the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo, the same images were also used in this 2019 report on the prison remand of singer, Naira Marley.
EFCC debunks claim
The EFCC officially debunked the report, branding it as “fake news.”
Despite the rebuttal by the anti-graft commission, some users have refused to pull down the claim.
What the President said
President Buhari over the weekend drummed support for Tinubu, whom he described as “reliable” and one who “will build on our achievements.” This was according to the statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on media and publicity, Garba Shehu.
The statement was titled “In a video to sway voters for Tinubu, President Buhari vows end to current hardship.”
Verdict
The claim that Buhari ordered the EFCC to conduct a raid on Tinubu’s home is false. It was deliberately designed to mislead the public.
Leave a Reply