On November 17, 2024, a claim went viral across social media, especially X (formerly Twitter) that hoodlums had attacked some polling units in the Ondo State governorship election.
According to the claim, “the hoodlums attacked INEC officials in Ogbagi Akoko” and they destroyed electoral materials. Attached to the claim are images of ballot papers scattered on the floor.
Claim: Did hoodlums attack Ogbagi Akoko during the Ondo governorship election?
ALL WE KNOW:
On November 16, 2024, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted the governorship election in Ondo State. We found that as of the time of tweeting this claim, INEC has announced the results from 15 Local Government Areas (LGAs) with three remaining.
The CDD War Room found that the image was first shared by SaharaReporters on November 16, 2024. According to the report, “Some hoodlums attacked and assaulted officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at Polling Unit 19, Ward 6 Ogbagi in the Akoko area of Ondo State in the ongoing governorship election in the state.”
We also found that several other blogposts captured the claim and attached the images. They can be found here, here and here.
We found that INEC has not acknowledged such incidence, just as the commission has not issued any statement to that effect. Similarly, none of our observers and soldiers of mouth in Ogbagi Akoko reported the incident. We also found that no mainstream media reported the incident and none of them acknowledged the viral image.