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Overview of Key Issues in the Pre-Election Period for the June 18, 2022 Ekiti State Governorship Election (Pre-Election Press Statement)
The first of two off cycle governorship elections for 2022 will be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ekiti State, on June 18, 2022. The election is the seventh in the state since the return of the current democratic dispensation in 1999. Following a 2010 Court of Appeal verdict, which removed then Governor Segun Oni, and declared Dr. Kayode Fayemi the rightful winner of the 2007 governorship election, Ekiti became one of several states holding off cycle governorship elections. The June 18, 2022 Ekiti State gubernatorial election is the very first to be conducted under the amended Electoral Act, 2022.As voters in Ekiti State head to the polls for tomorrow’s governorship election, the contest is apparently shaping up to be a three horse race involving the ruling party in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC), the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which has clearly emerged as a third force in the election. CDD observes that there are 16 political parties fielding candidates for the election. Only two candidates and seven deputy governorship candidates are women, just as the age range of the candidates indicate low participation of the youth.
The CDD EAC will be closely observing the electoral process with the objective of collecting data to support evidence-based analysis of key aspects of the Ekiti State governorship election. The CDD EAC will also host a fake news hub for the purpose of tracking and countering fake news and misinformation as it affects the election.
Pre-Election Observations
Based on the observation of the CDD EAC in the pre-election period, the following are the key trends, which have underlined the process.
CDD notes that the June 18, 2022 Ekiti State Governorship election is significant because it will serve as the first dress rehearsal as the INEC prepares for the 2023 general elections. The election will also be the first to be conducted under the Electoral Act, 2022, and the new INEC guidelines and regulations for conduct of elections. CDD EAC further notes that although INEC has made commitments to conduct a credible election in Ekiti State, its success in this regard would depend on its neutrality, professionalism and the level of its understanding and commitment to the new legal framework. The credibility of the process would also depend on how well INEC uses some of its new powers as derived from the extant electoral law, especially the power conferred on the Commission to delay the release of election results, if the Commission needs to take a second look.
The CDD EAC is concerned about violence, money politics and violations of incumbency powers and the possible effects of these on the credibility of the election. CDD EAC notes that Ekiti State, has recorded several incidents of violence during previous elections. In the build up to the 2022 governorship election, pockets of election-related violence have been recorded in places like Ado Ekiti, Efon Alaiye, Oye, Ido/Osi and Oye Ekiti. Other observable issues, which would shape the credibility of the election include; how well INEC is able to effectively deploy technology, particularly the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), impartial security provisioning, the quality of results management, curtailing the role of money, incumbency and god fatherism in the election. Also critical is the need for stakeholders in the election to proactively track, and counter fake news and misinformation. Already, the pre-election period has witnessed the spread of fake news capable of undermining voter confidence and participation in the process. An example is the fake news which trended recently on a purported Appeal Court decision nullifying the primaries of one of the major political parties and, by extension, its candidate.
In terms of some of the election risk factor, CDD notes that the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities ( ASUU) has crippled the local economy especially in university towns in Ekiti State. This has created a threat in terms of the availability of idle youth being recruited for activities, which could undermine the credibility of the election. By grounding the local economy, the strike has also created the wrong incentives as voters are more likely to see the election as an opportunity for economic survival, thereby exacerbating the risk of vote buying. This becomes even more relevant when it is considered that Ekiti State introduced the issue of “stomach infrastructure” into the Nigerian political lexicon. CDD has also observed that based on history of past violence in elections in the state, the following Local Government Areas, constitute potential flash points in the election; Ado Ekiti, Efon Alaiye, Ido/Osi, and Oye.
Signed:
Professor Adele Jinadu
Chair, CDD EAC
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FACT CHECK: Did Iyorchia Ayu Lose His Polling Unit, LGA As Claimed By Wike?
CLAIM: Iyorchia Ayu lose his polling unit and Local Government Area in the 2023 elections.
VERDICT: Partly true
CONTEXT: In a recent television interview, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State affirmed his support for the suspension of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Iyorchia Ayu. He said the people rejected PDP because Ayu refused to resign from the party’s chairmanship position.
“I am in support of the suspension. In fact, if he (Ayu) had left before now, they would have said he has left and that was why the PDP failed the election,” the governor said.
“First of all, if you are a member of the party, will you be happy with the way the party is today? It is only in this country that you see someone who has failed woefully and without any conscience would still like to occupy the position.
“Those in his ward from Benue are angry; why were they angry before now? Ayu ought to have left that office. People were saying we were pushing for Ayu to leave and that we had a hidden agenda to make PDP fail.
“Ayu remained and PDP didn’t win, you lost your unit as national chairman, you lost your local government,” Wike said.
VERIFICATION: CDD Fact-checkers on Sunday 23rd April 2023 checks show that Ayu won his polling unit for Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP during the presidential elections. However, he didn’t win the entire local government.
CDD fact-checkers report on how major political parties’ stakeholders fared at their respective polling units in the 2023 polls showed that PDP won in Ayu’s polling unit.
The election result at Mkovour Market PU 10 in Ipav District, Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State, where Ayu voted, showed that the PDP won the majority of the votes cast.
In the presidential election, Atiku scored 190 votes, leaving APC and LP with seven and four votes, respectively.
For the senatorial election, PDP had 192 votes while APC and LP polled five votes each. PDP polled 196 in the House of Representatives, leaving APC with 9 votes and LP 1.
At the local government level, Gboko LGA election results showed that the APC won with 35,149 votes, followed by LP with 18,615 votes. PDP had 13,901 votes.
Senator Iyorchia Ayu stepped aside as the chairman of the party last month following his suspension by the party executives in his ward. Ayu was replaced by the Deputy National Chairman (North), Umar Iliya Damagum. Recall that a High Court in Makurdi, the Benue state capital, had restrained embattled Ayu from parading himself as chairman of the party pending the determination of the substantive suit which has been adjourned to April 17, 2023 for hearing.
A member of the PDP from Benue, Terhide Utaan, who is the plaintiff before Justice W. I Kpochi, obtained the order restraining Ayu from parading himself as national chairman of the party. However, Justice Wilfred Kpochi adjourned the suit to April 28, 2023.
CONCLUSION: Checks by CDD fact-checkers confirmed that PDP won in Ayu’s Polling Unit, but lost at the local government, as such Wike’s claim is not completely true.
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Fact Check: How true are Dino Melaye’s claims about PDP, Yahaya Bello?
Dino Melaye, the gubernatorial candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State, made multiple controversial claims in a recent Channels TV interview.
The former senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, who was a guest on the Channels TV programme, Politics Today, made claims about his party, the opposition and his credentials.
CDD Election War Room checked his claims, and here is what we found.
Claim 1: The PDP is the oldest political party in the country; it is as old as the Fourth Republic.
Verification
The fourth republic kicked off in 1999 following the country’s transition to a democratic government. In 1998, the year before the “Fourth Republic,” the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was founded.
What political party is the oldest?
The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) is the oldest existing political party in Nigeria. It was founded in 1978 by Mallam Aminu Kano after he defected from the National Party of Nigeria (NPN).
The party is still in existence and active in the Nigerian political space. It currently has a sitting member in the House of Representatives.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP), which was founded in 1989, is the second-oldest.
There are political parties older than the PRP, but many of them no longer exist in 2023. The first political party in Nigeria was the Nigerian National Democratic Party set up in the early 1920s by Herbert Macaulay.
Verdict: False
Although the PDP existed since the start of the Fourth Republic, the claim that it is the nation’s oldest political party is false.
Claim II: “I was best senator in 2016, 2017, and 2018 consecutively; by the press corps of the national assembly, which is the only body that gives awards for the best senator or reps in the National Assembly,” Melaye claimed.
Verification
The CDD Election War Room confirmed that in 2016, the National Assembly Press Corps named Dino Melaye “the most outstanding senator of the year,” an award presented to him by the then-senate president, Bukola Saraki.
The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), however, reportedly cancelled the Senator of the Year award that was supposed to be given to the lawmaker for the year 2017.
The union claimed that the awarding organisation, Press Corps, was not recognised by the NUJ constitution and thus lacked the authority to bestow awards.
There is no evidence of Melaye — or any other senator — receiving the said award in 2018.
The Press Corps
The National Assembly Press Corps is a group of journalists who cover plenary sessions and report on them at the National Assembly.
According to the NUJ — the Press Corps’ governing body is not legitimately authorised to present awards.
Also noteworthy is the existence of other award-giving institutions within the National Assembly, including the Legislative Aide Association and other civil society organisations.
Verdict: Inaccurate
The claim that the Press Corps is the only organisation that gives awards and that Melaye received the award three times consecutively is inaccurate.
Claim III: Melaye said in four years he carried out “over 200 projects in the length and breadth of Kogi West.”
Verification
The CDD Election War Room could find one digital footprint of a block of classrooms built by the lawmaker in 2016, a borehole water project in Kogi, and several mentions of 143 projects which he had previously institutionalised.
However, there is not enough accompanying evidence to back up the claims of their existence.
It is also worthy of note that a project billed for commissioning by the legislator was incinerated by those he claimed to be his political rivals.
Verdict: Inconclusive
Claim IV: Yahaya Bello cannot boast of one project in Kogi State.
Verification
In an effort to disparage his political rival, Dino claimed that Yahaya Bello, the incumbent governor of Kogi State, who has held the position for two terms, cannot boast of one project to his credit.
The CDD Election War Room found that the governor instituted and commissioned projects in the state during his eight-year tenure.
He commissioned the Ganaja flyover project, the Reference Hospital in Okene, the ultra-modern GYB Model Science Secondary School, and the Muhammadu Buhari Civic Centre, among other projects.
Muhamadu Buhari, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, was in fact invited to commission some of these projects.
Verdict: False
The claim that Yahaya Bello cannot boast of one project during his tenure as governor is false.
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FACT SHIELD: Can a president-elect hold a dual citizenship? Here’s all we know
David Hundeyin, a Nigerian journalist, made a post about Nigeria’s president-elect, Bola Tinubu, alleging that he has dual citizenship.
Hundeyin posted a picture, alleged to be Tinubu’s passport, which showed the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag-bearer to be of “Guinean nationality”.
The post, which immediately gained traction and went viral, has caused a series of debates both within and outside the social media space.
The controversy stems from Section 137 (1) (a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) which implies forfeiture of certain elective positions if the candidate involved has dual citizenship.
This fact shield answers the questions you may have about dual citizenships in Nigeria, and what is needed for the office of the president in Nigeria.
What does the Constitution say?
Chapter III of Sections 25 to 32 of the CFRN defines who a Nigerian citizen is and also provides the conditions that may qualify one to be a Nigerian citizen.
A person can become a Nigerian citizen by birth (to Nigerian parents or by birth in Nigeria), by registration/ marriage, and by naturalisation.
The bone of contention, however, is sections 137 (1a), 66 (1a), 107 (1a), and 182 (1a) which give restrictions on who can contest certain political offices.
“A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if subject to the provisions of section 28 of this Constitution, he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a country other than Nigeria or, except in such cases as may be prescribed by the National Assembly, he has made a declaration of allegiance to such other country,” the constitution states.
Based on the provisions of the constitution as stated above, no one with dual citizenship is constitutionally allowed to be president. The same applies to key offices in the national assembly.
Historical cases negate the constitution
Although no president-elect has had to battle the legality of dual citizenship in court, Nigerians with dual citizenships vying as lawmakers and governorship candidates have contested the position of the constitution.
It is important to note that they have all won their cases in the court of law. One of such case is Ogbeide v Osula in 2019.
Although the tribunal held in favour of Osula, of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Ogbeide would later appeal the case which would become precedence for future debates.
The Court of Appeal held that a citizen by birth does not lose his status even when he acquires another, and dual citizenship does not make a candidate ineligible when he is a citizen by birth.
Part of the ruling reads “ What one can make of that section read with sections 25,26 and 27 of the 1999 Constitution is that a citizen of this country by birth never loses his citizenship even where he holds dual citizenship of another country and cannot be disqualified from contesting election into the House of Representatives for reasons only that he holds such dual citizenship”.
The court further held, ”…as decided in the case of Ogbeide vs. Osula (supra), dual citizenship does not make a candidate ineligible to contest an election if he is a Nigerian citizen by birth. The complaint of the appellants is therefore unfounded.”
The ruling of the election tribunal vis-a-vis that of the Appeal Court was also similar to the case of Ikengboju Gboluga, a member of the House of Representatives, representing Okitipupa/Irele federal constituency.
He was sacked by the Ondo State Election Petitions Tribunal as a result of his dual citizenship. He was however reinstated by the Court of Appeal after the tribunal ousted the lawmaker.
In a more recent case, Tonye Cole the governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers state, was initially disqualified over alleged dual citizenship and non-compliance with the Electoral Act by his party.
The ruling by the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt agreed with the APC decision that Cole, who has dual citizenship, was not eligible to contest the governorship position.
This ruling was however overturned by the court of appeal.
Politicians who hold dual citizenship
The Nigerian national assembly has constantly gone against the provision of the constitution by supporting the election of officers with dual citizens.
Ahmad Lawan, the senate president of the ninth assembly, in a form submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2019 admitted to being a dual citizen of an undisclosed country.
Femi Gbajabiamila the current speaker of the House of Representatives holds citizenship with the United States.
Bukola Saraki was a two-term governor in Kwara state despite being a British citizen and he went on to serve as senate president.
Tinubu guilty of pejury?
Nigerian courts have given distinct interpretations on cases involving dual citizens. There is also a record of people with dual citizenship holding public offices, even in the ongoing government. Thus, Tinubu’s alleged dual citizenship becomes dicey.
His opponents, however, believe he can be charged with perjury.
According to reports, Tinubu in his form EC-9 — application for the presidency — told INEC that he never obtained citizenship from another country.
Section 117 of the Criminal Code describes Perjury as giving “false testimony”. The punishment for this according to Section 118 is 14 years imprisonment or life imprisonment in certain cases.
To determine if the president-elect is guilty, a legal case has to be filed against him. This cannot be filed by LP and PDP under the recent electoral petitions as the 21-day window for adjustments of cases has elapsed.
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Analysis: Binani, Peter Obi, Tinubu drive social media trends
In the past few weeks, the political landscape has been rocked by a series of controversial news stories. However, two political parties and their members have been at the forefront of the discourse.
These parties have engaged in a fierce war of words, each attempting to discredit the other. As a result, both parties have garnered a significant presence on social media platforms, whether it be positive or negative.
Lately, there has been a trend of people utilising hashtags to create tweets that are not related to the hashtags, with the sole purpose of boosting the content’s reach to a wider audience and elevating its position on the trend table.
Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, and Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s president-elect, have been the subject of intense scrutiny and have dominated social media discussions for four consecutive weeks.
Several hashtags such as #TinubuIsAConvictedDrugDealer, #BolaTinubuIsADrugDealer, #AsiwajuBolaAhmedTinubu, #TinubuOurPresident, #WHEREISTINUBU and #Jagaban have been linked to Tinubu during this period.
While #MrPeterObi, #PeterGregoryObi, #ItisPOssible and #PeterObi have also been linked to Obi.
Both individuals have been linked to several stories, but some controversies stood out more than others.
Peter Obi in London
Obi has found himself back in the public eye after the recent #YesDaddy controversy. This time, due to a controversy surrounding his recent trip to the United Kingdom (UK).
According to a statement released by Diran Onifade, the Head of Obi-Datti Media, Obi was detained and questioned by immigration officials at Heathrow Airport on April 7, 2023.
The exact reason for his detention is yet to be revealed, as UK authorities have not commented on the matter. This incident has sparked widespread discussion on social media platforms, with over 580,000 tweets posted and several individuals offering their opinions on the situation. You can read some of them here and here.
Despite the incident, Obi has opted to stay quiet and made his first post on Twitter on April 18, 2023, since the event. The tweet has surpassed 2.2 million views and can be viewed here.
Tinubu the Viral President
The hashtag #Uberfacts gained significant attention in relation to the ongoing discourse surrounding Tinubu and an alleged drug case in the United States.
On April 10, 2023, UberFacts posted several pictures of documents related to Tinubu’s case, garnering 18.9 million views, this can be viewed here.
The hashtag also trended with over 1 million tweets and sparked various opinions, which can be found here and here.
Another event that sparked widespread attention on social media occurred on April 16, 2023, when an investigative journalist, David Hundeyin, found himself trending on Twitter with the hashtag #DavidHundeyin, garnering over 46,000 tweets.
This came after he made a post revealing that Bola Tinubu, the president-elect of Nigeria, held a Guinea passport.
However, the post was quickly removed by Twitter for violating its rules. The deleted tweet can be seen here. This has raised several conversations surrounding whether social media platforms should have such power to regulate pieces of information.
Similarly, in this same week, a video allegedly showing the governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and Bola Tinubu in a helicopter surfaced on social media on April 19, 2023.
The location of the video was reportedly in Guinea, and it quickly garnered attention, with the hashtag #Sanwo-Olu trending on Twitter with over 24,000 tweets.
Despite the online buzz, neither of the individuals in the video has made any public statements regarding the footage. A link to the tweet can be found here. Some of the reactions by individuals can be seen here and here
Nearly a governor
On March 18, 2023, the gubernatorial election took place in Adamawa State, Nigeria, and a supplementary election followed on April 15, 2023.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) fielded Aisha Binani as their candidate, who was poised to make history by becoming Nigeria’s first female elected governor.
She was touted to defeat the incumbent governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, who is the flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The public was so confident of her victory that several news stories claimed she had won, which we had to debunk and make clarifications.
Following the supplementary election, several controversies sparked up as she was illegally declared the winner, view one such post here.
#AishaBinani immediately started to trend with over 20,000 tweets when she made an acceptance speech having been illegally declared by the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state.
Although her supposed win has been retracted with several actions taken against the culprits, various discourse centered around the illegal declaration was still trending which can be viewed here and here
Conclusively, according to our forecast, it is likely that Peter Obi and Bola Tinubu will maintain their positions as the most talked-about individuals in the coming weeks.
The competition between them will revolve around their follower’s ability to generate and spread negative propaganda about each other in order to gain an upper hand in popularity.
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FACT CHECK: How True Is Senator Ishaku Abbo’s Claim Of Election Annulment By INEC?
CLAIM: Senator Ishaku Abbo Claim of Election Annulment by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
VERDICT: False and Misleading
CONTEXT: Senator Ishaku Abbo, representing Adamawa North Senatorial District, has said the Electoral Act 2022 forbids the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from declaring the collated results in the Adamawa State governorship election null and void.
Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast show ‘Sunrise Daily’ on Monday 17th April 2023, he noted that the Electoral Body’s announcement was insignificant according to the provisions of the Electoral Act of 2022.
His words: “INEC cannot nullify an election that has been announced, they don’t have that power. Elections have been announced, it is out of their hands. The result has been announced by the REC. Section 65 does not operate in isolation, there is Section 149.”
On Sunday 16th April 2023, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa State announced Sen. Aishatu Dahiru Binani, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the state supplementary governorship election held on 15th April 2023 in a controversial manner as collation was still ongoing.
Her major challenger and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Umaru Fintiri, was maintaining a lead of over 30,000 votes before the election was declared inconclusive on March 18th, 2023.
The INEC headquarters in Abuja, however, nullified the announcement and transferred the collation to Abuja. Subsequently, on Monday 17th April 2023, the commission asked its REC, Hudu Yunusa, to stay away from its office in Adamawa state.
CDD fact checkers understands that INEC cannot take further disciplinary action on the Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) because he is an appointee of the president and only the president can terminate his appointment.
However, the commission has written to the Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba Usman, to investigate and prosecute Mr. Hudu Yunusa. In another development, Sen. Binani has approached a federal high court in Abuja, seeking an injunction to halt INEC from concluding the collation process.
VERIFICATION: Checks by CDD fact checkers show that the Electoral Act 2022 in Section 65 clearly delegates such powers to the commission. The section of the Electoral Act states that the decision of the returning officer shall be final on any question arising from or relating to unmarked ballot paper; rejected ballot paper; and declaration of scores of candidates, or the return of a candidate:
It, however, added that “Provided that the commission shall have the power within seven days to review the declaration and return where the commission determines that the said declaration and return was not made voluntarily or was made contrary to the provisions of the law, regulations and guidelines, and manual for the election.
“A decision of the returning officer under subsection may be reviewed by an election tribunal or court of competent jurisdiction in an election petition proceeding under this Act.”
On Section 149 of the Electoral Act which the lawmaker made reference to, public affairs analysts and lawyers say the section makes reference to officers who are duly and legally assigned responsibilities by the commission and not officers carrying out duties not assigned to them, as in the case of the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Adamawa State.
Section 149 of the Electoral Act states that, “Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, any defect or error arising from any actions taken by an official of the commission in relation to any notice, form, or document made or given or other things done by the official in pursuance of the provisions of the Constitution or of this Act, or any rules made thereunder, remain valid, unless otherwise challenged and declared invalid by a competent court of law or tribunal,”
However, speaking on the issue, a public affairs analyst said: “The returning officer is the individual referenced in Section 149 of the Constitution whose pronouncement on election result will stand and not a Resident Electoral Commissioner who has no business in announcing and returning a candidate to office.”
The analyst added that “INEC appointed a returning officer for the Adamawa State governorship supplementary election who is expected to declare results and not the resident electoral commissioner who just committed an illegality by going ahead to announce results that were still being collated.”
Also speaking on the morning show on Arise Television on Tuesday, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Bolaji Ayorinde, said what the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Adamawa (REC), Hudu Yunusa, did is illegal and INEC did the right thing to declare it null and void.
He said, “Mr. Hudu usurped the powers of the returning officer by going ahead to declare elections, and Section 149 of the Electoral Act only made reference to returning officers and not resident electoral officers, as such, it was right for INEC to nullify the results.” He added that but for the fact that Nigeria’s laws are weak, “the REC in Adamawa ought to have been arrested and facing prosecution.
CONCLUSION: Going by the 2022 Electoral Act, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been empowered by the law to review declarations within seven days of the announcement, as such, the claim by the lawmaker is false. Also, the claim on the finality of results declared by an INEC official is misleading, as the INEC official referenced in the constitution is the returning officer and not the Resident Electoral Commissioner, as indicated by Sen. Ishaku Abbo.
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FACT CHECK: Did Peter Obi admit he was arrested for ‘unknowingly’ breaking the law?
During the week, different Twitter users claimed that the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi had acknowledged that he “unknowingly” broke a law.
The different tweets which have garnered over 800,000 engagements come against the backdrop of Obi’s alleged detention by the UK Immigration Service at London’s Heathrow Airport in early April.
VERDICT: Misleading
BACKGROUND:
Obi, via his verified Twitter page, had on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, released a statement urging his followers to remain calm and steadfast in the journey to reclaiming their mandate for a new Nigeria and how he would never be deterred by the obstacles along the way to victory.
Speaking on his alleged detention, part of the statement read; “Sometimes as humans, we make mistakes but, I will never knowingly break any law. I am therefore not afraid of the lies and propaganda against my person. They are part of the journey to a New Nigeria.”
However, this part of his tweet has been misquoted by some Twitter users aimed at misleading others.
One user tweeted, “Peter Obi has finally accepted that he was actually arrested in the UK. He said he was arrested because he ‘UNKNOWINGLY’ broke the law.”
A party chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Femi Fani-Kayode, also tweeted that, “Peter’s Obi’s claim that he never ‘knowingly broke the law speaks volumes and suggests that he broke it ‘unknowingly’.”
CDD Election War Room took a critical look into the different versions of Obi’s statement, and here is what we understand.
VERIFICATION:
CDD Election War Room read the full statement released by Peter Obi on his verified Twitter page and found that there was no part of the statement where he accepted that he was actually arrested in the UK because he “unknowingly” broke the law.
What Peter Obi said in his tweet is, “…I will never knowingly break any law…” The different quotes on Twitter seem to be attempting to twist Obi’s words to say he admitted to committing a crime in the UK. Obi did not at any point say he broke the law. It is therefore misleading to ascribe the statement to his alleged detention in the UK.
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FACT CHECK: Does video show Wike saying Peter Obi won the presidential election?
A Twitter user posted a video of Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, alongside the claim that he said Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) was the winner of the February 25 presidential election.
The tweet, posted on April 17, 2023, has since garnered over 81,000 views, as of when it was retrieved from Twitter.
“Hear Nyesom Wike confess that the winner of the last presidential polls is @PeterObi.This is after working against him with all his state might. You see, falsehood is just but for a season, but the truth will prevail at the end of the day. Please watch.” the caption to the post read.
Peter Obi came third in the just-concluded general election with Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) coming first and second respectively.
Claim: Nyesom Wike said in a video that Peter Obi was the winner of the last presidential poll.
Verification
CDD Election War Room found that the clip is an excerpt from a video posted by Channels Television on YouTube, on March 11, 2023. The video is from an interactive session between Wike and some trade associations in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
In the video posted on Twitter, Wike could be heard saying “The hero of this election whether you like am or you no like am is Obi. I am not saying it to make you happy, I am saying the truth and nothing but the truth. He may not have been pronounced as the winner no problem, the law will take its course.”
Throughout the video, Wike never stated that Peter Obi won the election like the Twitter post claimed.
In the continuation of his speech in the full video posted on YouTube, Wike stated that if “Obi did not contest, power could have gone back to the North.”
Wike was simply admitting Obi’s role in taking votes from historically-PDP states, thereby ruining Atiku’s chances at winning the presidential race.
Wike is known to have worked vehemently against Atiku in the just concluded election.
Verdict: FALSE
The claim that Nyesom Wike said in a video that Peter Obi was the winner of the last presidential poll is false; CDD War Room found that Wike only said that Obi was the hero of the election and not that he won.
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FACT CHECK: Does INEC lack powers to nullify announced results as Elisha Abbo claims?
Elisha Abbo, a senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District, has claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lacks the power to nullify results that have already been declared by the commission.
Abbo is a senator under the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC).
Abbo made this claim in a Channels TV interview on Monday, April 17, 2023, in reference to the supplementary governorship elections held in Adamawa state on April 15, 2023.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa state, on April 16, declared the candidate of the APC, Aishatu Dahiru, popularly known as Binani, winner of the supplementary governorship election in the state.
However, INEC immediately nullified the REC’s action, noting that he lacked the powers to declare the result of the election.
Abbo quoted the provisions of section 149 of the Electoral Act 2022 to validate the action of the REC. In the interview, he was challenged by the anchor of the program, but he maintained his stand that INEC does not have such power.
CLAIM: INEC lacks the power to nullify results that have already been announced.
Verification: Sections 64(4) and 65 of the Electoral Act 2022, and Part 3 of INEC Guidelines on Elections vests the power to collate and announce results solely on the collation officer or the returning officer for that election.
Under section 65, it is provided that “the Commission shall have the power within seven days to review the declaration and return where the Commission determines that the said declaration and return was not made voluntarily or was made contrary to the provisions of the law, regulations and guidelines, and manual for the election.”
Section 149 of the Electoral Act (which was relied upon by Abbo) gives validity to any defect or error made by any INEC official until otherwise challenged by a competent court of law or by a Tribunal.
Section 149 provides thus: “notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, any defect or error arising from any actions taken by an official of the Commission in relation to any notice, form or document made or given or other things done by the official in pursuance of the provisions of the Constitution or of this Act, or any rules made thereunder remain valid, unless otherwise challenged and declared invalid by a competent court of law or tribunal”.
However, section 149 can only be relied upon where the action taken by the commission was legally and validly made in the first instance.
In this circumstance, the provision cannot stand as the REC lacked the legal power to announce or declare results in the first place. This is because the declaration of results is the sole power and constitutional responsibility of the collation officer or the returning officer.
Verdict: False
The claim that INEC cannot nullify results that have already been announced is false. Section 65 of the Electoral Act gives the commission the power to review the declaration and return where the commission determines that the said declaration and return were made contrary to the provisions of the law. The announcement by the REC is therefore contrary to the provisions of the law, and can be nullified by INEC.
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FACT CHECK: How true are Fashola’s claims about Tinubu?
On March 17, 2023, Babatunde Fashola, the Minister for Works and Housing, who doubles as the Director for the Election Planning and Monitoring Directorate of APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), granted an interview on Channels TV.
Speaking on his role in the just concluded general election and how his party won the election, Fashola made these claims.
Claim I: The 2023 General Election had the least reported incidence of violence.
Verification: Daily Trust reported that a coalition of Civil Society Organizations reported that the just-concluded general election was the least violent poll ever conducted in Nigeria since 1964/1965.
The coalition noted that between 13 and 28 people were reportedly killed as a result of the election.
Data mined by Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) in partnership with ACLED showed that about 109 persons have been killed in political violence recorded from the start of the year to 10 March 2023 — before the guber polls. During and after the guber poll, CDD reported increased violence across the country.
While there was remarkable violence in the 2023 election, the numbers from the 2019 and 2011 elections seem to be higher.
According to a report by SBM Intelligence, 626 people were killed during the 2019 election cycle. For the 2011 elections, more than 800 people were killed in post-election violence.
However, in the 2015 election, fewer deaths were recorded. According to Nigeria Security Tracker, there were 106 documented election-related deaths. Sixty-two of those people were killed in the nearly seven months preceding the election.
Verdict: Inaccurate. While there is no single metric for measuring election violence, CDD Election War Room found that there were fewer deaths recorded in the 2015 electoral cycle than recorded in 2023.
Claim II: Broadband costs have dropped significantly over the last 10 years
Verification: A report by Techpoint Africa shows that data prices fell by 25% between 2014 and 2019.
According to the report, one gigabyte of data cost $11.18 (₦1,833) in early 2014 and fell to $2.78 (₦1,264) by the end of 2019.
Isa Pantami, the minister of Communications and Digital Economy said the average price of one-gigabyte data has reduced to N350 (less than $1) in 2023; a reduction from N1200 in 2019.
So with Techpoint’s data and the minister’s revelation, the broadband price of one gigabyte has reduced from about N1,264 to N350 in the last 10 years.
Verdict: True. The claim that broadband cost has declined in the last 10 years is true.
Claim III: Has the PDP been competitive for 24 years?
Verification:
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was officially founded at the International Conference Centre Abuja on August 31, 1998. The PDP had Alex Ekwueme as chairman of the Steering Committee while Jerry Gana served as the secretary.
In January 1999, PDP contested its first election as a registered political party in Nigeria’s governorship elections.
The PDP won in 21 states, the All Peoples Party (APP) won in 9 states and the Alliance for Democracy (AD) won in 6 states. PDP has won more actively in numerous sub-national elections since then.
Verdict: True. The claim that the PDP has been competitive for 24 years is true.
Claim IV: The APC constitution has no zoning of offices
Verification:
Speaking about the political lobbying ongoing about the incoming national assembly offices, Fashola said his party, the APC, is not like the PDP and does not have zoning of such offices in its constitution.
However, CDD Election War Room found that the APC Constitution, article 20, paragraph (iv) e acknowledges zoning, otherwise known as the rotation of power.
The party’s constitution states that “the National Working Committee shall subject to the approval of the National Executive Committee make Rules and Regulations for the nomination of Candidates through primary elections, All such Rules, Regulations and Guidelines shall take into consideration and uphold the principle of Federal Character, gender balance, geo-political spread and rotation of offices, to as much as possible ensure balance within the Constituency covered.”
While Bola Tinubu was aspiring for the party’s ticket, his team in the APC harped on the power rotation message to push his position, claiming that the presidency should constitutionally return to the south.
Verdict: False. The claim that APC constitution has no zoning is false. The concept of power rotation, geo-political spread/zoning is stated in the party’s constitution.
Claim VI: All of the accusations that have been levelled against Bola Tinubu have either been unproven or have no evidence offered in support of them.
Verification:
Amidst numerous accusations levelled against Tinubu, one of them that has evidence is the alleged drug dealing and money laundering case.
A US court released certified true copies of documents linking Bola Tinubu to a drug dealing and money laundering case in Chicago.
The court papers revealed that Bola Tinubu and two others named K.O. Tinubu and Alhaji Mogaji were involved in illicit drugs and money laundering, leading to the forfeiture of about $460,000 in their Heritage Bank and Citibank to American authorities in 1993.
While Tinubu was not convicted, there is a record of the indictment, invalidating Fashola’s claim.
Verdict: False. The claim that all accusations levelled against Bola Tinubu have been unproven or have no evidence is False. There is evidence of an indictment, which led to civil forfeiture to the tune of $460,000.
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FACT CHECK: Did Ayu fail to deliver PU, ward, LGA for PDP as Wike claims?
Nyesom Wike, a two-term governor of Rivers state, has made multiple claims during a recent media chat with journalists, where he was asked to react to the post-election controversies in the state.
Wike, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the party was only being vigilant after winning the March 18 gubernatorial election, to avoid some of the issues which he said ensued following the outcome of the 2019 election in the state.
He also blamed the suspended national chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu, for the party’s loss in the 2023 presidential election.
Claim I: Iyorchia Ayu failed to deliver his polling unit, ward, LGA, and state for PDP in the 2023 general elections.
Verification
The CDD Election War Room checked to verify Wike’s claim and found that Ayu won his polling unit for Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP.
A report by Daily Trust, detailing how major party stakeholders fared at their respective polling units in the 2023 polls, revealed that PDP won in Ayu’s polling unit.
The election result at Mkovour Market PU 10 in Ipav District, Gboko Local Government Area of Benue state, where Ayu voted, showed that the PDP won the majority of the votes cast.
In the presidential election, Atiku scored 190 votes, leaving APC and LP with seven and four votes, respectively.
For the senatorial election, PDP had 192 votes while APC and LP polled five votes each. PDP polled 196 in the House of Representatives, leaving APC with 9 votes and LP 1.
The Nigerian Tribune also reported the development here.
We checked the Independent National Electoral Commission’s result viewing portal, IRev, to confirm if PDP lost in Ayu’s ward, Igyorov, in the presidential election.
We found that only results for 16 out of the 22 polling units in Igyorov Ward were updated. We, however, observed that the ward result sheet, containing results for 20 PUs, was uploaded, with two PUs missing.
The results available on IRev showed that PDP had 1,520 votes ahead of APC and LP which polled 1,443 and 179 respectively.
We however cannot confirm that PDP won in Igyorov Ward as we could not get the breakdown of results for the last two polling units. However, the results available show a slim PDP lead.
At the local government level, Gboko LGA election results showed that the APC won with 35,149 votes, followed by LP with 18,615 votes. PDP had 13,901 votes.
At the state level, the election results for Benue state, as announced by INEC, showed that APC won with 310,468 votes over LP’s 308,372 votes and PDP’s 130,081 votes.
Verdict: MOSTLY TRUE
CDD Election War Room found that PDP won in Ayu’s PU, but lost at the LGA and state levels. As for the ward, we could only get results for 20 of the 22 polling units in Igyorov Ward, which showed that PDP was in the lead with a slight vote margin ahead of APC and LP.
Claim II: APC adopted AAC in the 2019 gubernatorial election in Rivers state.
Verification:
Checks by the CDD Election War Room show that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had no governorship candidate in the 2019 Rivers gubernatorial election.
This was as a federal high court in Port Harcourt, nullified the parallel primaries conducted by the two different factions of the party in the state, ahead of the 2019 elections.
The court further stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from allowing any of the candidates to be on the ballots.
Following the development, Rotimi Amaechi, a leader of the APC in the state and a former governor, reportedly announced the resolution of the party to support Awara Biokpomabo, who was the candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the March 9 election.
Verdict: TRUE
A faction of the APC led by Rotimi Amaechi, the former governor of Rivers state, adopted the candidate of the AAC in the state’s guber polls in 2019 following a court ruling which restrained the party from fielding a candidate over the internal crisis in the party.
