CLAIM: INEC Chairman Work under Wike as TETUND Secretary
VERDICT: False
CONTEXT: A viral tweet claims that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, worked under Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State as Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) secretary.
The Twitter user, @IkukuomaC, tweeted this on Saturday 18th February 2023 with the caption ‘He worked Under Wike as Tefund secretary got nominated to be INEC chairman by Nasir Rufai who is part of Bola Amoda Tinubu… Wike spearheaded the rigging in Rivers state which them to win the election…mindest was spot on’ together with the INEC chairman’s picture.
The Twitter user implied that there exists some intimate relationship between Nyesom Wike and Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and that the latter compromised the electoral process in Rivers State in favor of the governor.
VERIFICATION: In verifying this claim, CDD fact-checkers checked the TETFUND website and found that the Executive Secretary as at the time Governor Nyesom Wike was a Minister of State for Education was Prof Suleiman Elias Bogoro.
Recall that former President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Wike as Minister of State for Education during his tenure. During the period, Nyesom Wike appointed Prof Suleiman Elias Bogoro as the Executive Secretary of TETFUND. He was the executive secretary from April 2014 to February 2016.
CONCLUSION: CDD fact-checkers can confirm that the current chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu was not the Executive Secretary of TETFUND at the time Nyesom Wike was Minister of State for Education; hence the claim is false.
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