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In 2024, Edo and Ondo State witnessed off-cycle elections in September and November, respectively. Amid the election build-up, several claims linked to candidates vying for the top political seats in each state arose. This necessitated the Nigerian Fact Checkers Coalition (NFC) to verify.
Below are false assertions made in connection with political stakeholders and state actors during state elections in 2024:
- AAC Udoh Oberaifo’s claim Edo State approved N325 billion for the 2024 election
The African Action Congress (AAC)’s governorship candidate in the 2024 Edo State, Udoh Oberaifo, claimed the approved Edo State budget for the election was N325 billion.
But, details from the official document released by the Edo State government on Mar. 25, 2023, reveal that the total approved budget for 2024 was N342.8 billion.
Read more here.
- APGA Isaiah Osifo’s claim Edo State’s unemployment rate is over 20 per cent
During the 2024 Edo State gubernatorial election build-up, the flagbearer of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Isaiah Osifo, claimed the state’s unemployment rate is a little over 20 per cent.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for Q4 2020 showed that the unemployment rate in Edo State was 49.02 per cent, while the underemployment rate was 15.86 per cent.
Read more here.
- Godwin Obaseki won the 2020 election in Akoko LGA
An X user claimed that the erstwhile governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, won the 2020 elections in Akoko Local Government Area (LGA), and thus a stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s 2020 results show that the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the local government area with 22,953 votes, and the PDP trailed with 20,101 votes.
Read more here.
- Viral WhatsApp message suggesting the disqualification of APC’s flagbearer, Monday Okpebholo
An X user shared a WhatsApp message stating the court had disqualified the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Monday Okpebholo, during the Edo State gubernatorial election held on Sept. 25, 2024.
But, a news outlet, TheCable, reported that a Federal Capital Territory Magistrate, Abubakar Mukhtar, denied any order disqualifying the APC candidate. The outlet quoted the Magistrate’s reaction as “false and misleading.”
Moreover, the APC’s spokesperson, Felix Morka, stated that no court had disqualified the party’s candidate from the election.
Read more here.
- Supreme Court disqualified PDP’s candidate in Edo State
An X user claimed Nigeria’s Supreme Court disqualified the People’s Democratic Party governorship candidate, Asue Igbodalo, from the Edo State gubernatorial election held on Sept. 25, 2024.
However, the findings of the Nigerian Fact Checkers Coalition reveal that a Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal dismissed a suit challenging Mr Igbodalo’s candidacy for lack of merit. Furthermore, as of Sept. 20, 2024, there was no evidence of the apex court sitting on the matter or any other related matter, as Mr Igbodalo remained on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s final list of candidates.
Read more here.
- Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata withdrew from the governorship race
A viral press statement shows that Olumide Akpata, the Labour Party’s governorship candidate in the Edo State election held on Sept. 25, 2024, had withdrawn from the race and endorsed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s candidate, Asue Igbodalo.
However, checks show that the statement was forged using one of the public statements released and signed by Mr Akpata. The statement also carries two different dates.
Moreover, Zakari Idris (Jnr), head of the Labour Party’s campaign media team, told the Nigerian Fact Checkers Coalition (NFC) that the viral press statement did not come from Mr Akpata and noted that the PDP candidate was very much interested in contesting for the governorship office.
- PDP’s Igbodalo stepped down for LP’s candidate in Edo State
An X user claimed that Asue Igbodalo, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the Edo State election on Sept. 25, 2024, stepped down for the Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata.
However, a press statement by the PDP on the eve of the state election buttressed that Mr Igbodalo was still very much in the race.
Read more here.
- President Tinubu did not sign the peace accord in 2023
The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto State, Matthew Kukah, claimed President Bola Tinubu did not sign a peace accord as a presidential candidate in 2023.
However, checks by the Nigerian Fact Checkers Coalition reveal that two peace accords were signed by presidential candidates in 2023 to prevent violence during the 2023 general elections. Although President Tinubu was absent from the first one, organised by the National Peace Committee and held on Sept. 29, 2022, he was represented by his vice, Kashim Shettima.
Read more here.
