On March 28, 2024, an X (formerly Twitter) user tweeted an image with the caption “Nigeria voted against the immediate ceasefire on the war in Gaza. HM @YusufTuggar sir, any explanation for this shameful vote? Nigeria never supported apartheid and WE will NEVER. At worst, we remain neutral. Unless of course, we have a Govt of Western puppets. SHAME !”
According to this tweet, Nigeria voted against the immediate ceasefire on the war in Gaza, Palestine. The X user therefore demanded an explanation from the minister of foreign affairs, Yusuf Tuggar over the alleged Nigerian vote against the ceasefire.
Attached to the tweet is an image with the names of countries and their votes on a long roll. The image is a screenshot of a document titled “148TH ASSEMBLY; RESULTS OF THE VOTE”
Claim: Did Nigeria Vote Against Immediate Ceasefire On The War In Gaza?
Verification:
In October 2023, the Palestinian militant group reportedly launched a cross-border attack on Israeli territory. Israel responded with a fierce air and land offensive on the Gaza Strip, saying its goal was to wipe out Hamas.
Since then, the situation has metamorphosed into a full war. Thousands of men, women and children have lost their lives due to the conflict. Palestinians with the support of several countries, have been calling on the international community to pressure Israel to halt its offensive and allow for humanitarian corridor.
On October 28, 2024, Nigeria joined 119 members of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, United States, to vote for an immediate humanitarian truce and ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group.
Similarly, in March 2024, a delegation of Nigerian parliamentarians, led by Godswill Akpabio, the senate president, gathered at the 148th IPU Assembly from 23-27 March 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. Akpabio, while speaking at the IPU Assembly themed “Parliamentary Diplomacy: Building Bridges for Peace and Understanding,” addressed various issues, including the Israeli-Hamas war in the Middle East.
Akpabio told the assembly that collective action must be taken to end the war in order to prevent further deaths of children. He reiterated the need to set aside ego for peace, insisting that the assembly session must not conclude without taking action to achieve a ceasefire.
The CDD War Room found the document where the Twitter user extracted the screenshot. We found that the attached screenshot is “Proposal 1” which borders on “Raising awareness of the ICJ provisional measures (South Africa with the support of the Arab Group and the African Group). Nigeria voted against this proposal 1.
We found that proposal 2, titled “Call for urgent action regarding the conflict in the Middle East (Denmark, France, Hungary, Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom). This proposal 2 bothers on the Israel invasion of Gaza and we can confirm that Nigeria voted for the ceasefire to end and not against the immediate ceasefire on the war.
Verdict: FALSE
The CDD War Room can confirm that Nigeria did not vote against the immediate ceasefire in Gaza. On two international engagements, Nigeria has voted for an immediate humanitarian truce and ceasefire in Gaza. We can confirm that the image attached to the tweet shows Proposal 1, not Proposal 2. Nigeria voted “YES” in support for Proposal 2, calling for immediate action (ceasefire) on the war in Gaza.
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