With election results being compiled around the country from the just concluded general elections, many fake results and false announcements of results have begun to go viral.
One such false viral announcement is the declaration of Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate, as the winner of the presidential election.
In the viral video which originated from video hosting service, TikTok, Attahiru Jega, the former chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), announced Peter Obi as the winner of the election and was accompanied by loud cheers.
Verification
The viral video which has been seen by more than 384,000 viewers and shared over 1,000 times has a disclaimer attached to the end of the video.
Despite this, the video and been shared on social media platforms with the disclaimer at the end mostly cut off.
Using a reverse image search, we found the exact video from the 2015 general elections when Jega was the INEC chairman and national returning officer.
The voice announcing the result was overlaid on the Jega video to show Obi as the winner of the 2023 presidential election.
Verdict
Saturday’s election result is yet to be fully collated and as such, the announcement of the result has not happened. CDD Election War Room recommends that Nigerians stop the spread of this type of information so as to avoid misinforming the public.