{"id":22708,"date":"2025-05-14T14:33:03","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T13:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=22708"},"modified":"2025-05-14T14:33:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T13:33:04","slug":"misleading-el-rufai-attended-funeral-mass-not-church-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/misleading-el-rufai-attended-funeral-mass-not-church-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Misleading! El-Rufai attended funeral mass, not church service"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Claim: Facebook user, Sroc Partner, shared an image of Nasir El-Rufai alleging he is now a churchgoer, as part of the campaign for his 2027 presidential ambition.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Verdict: Misleading. El-Rufai had posted the picture in the claim on his X page with a caption saying he was in Okija, Anambra State, to attend the funeral mass of an associate.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Text<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On May 3, 2025, a Facebook user named Sroc Partner posted a picture<\/a> of the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, flanked by people in a gathering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The post caption read, \u201c2027: Malam <\/a>Nasir El-Rufai now attends church services to appease the same Christian community he previously expressed strong sentiments against. Behold our new Bishop in the making.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Caption: Screenshot of the Facebook post.\u00a0 Source: Sroc Partner Facebook Page<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As of May 8, 2025,  the post had garnered 228 comments, 41 shares, and 290 reactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sparked debate among many users, with many condemning El-Rufai for attending a church service to buy their sympathy for his presidential ambition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comments include those of Lekan Awe, who wrote: \u201cDeceit of the highest order! Persecuting Christians when in office as governor. Naija politicians no go die well, walahi.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olalekan Quadri also wrote, \u201cElrufai is a disgrace to his constituency, the few Fulani elites who are teaming up to grab power again to oppress the Nigerian masses. He will never succeed in sha Allah Ameen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another Facebook user, Ojo Victor Echo, posted the same image on May 2, 2025, with the caption \u201cWonder shall never end, former Gov, NASIRU EL-RUFAI in church service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same image was also shared on Facebook, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>, and on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, El-Rufai has been in the news, and different narratives have been told about him, especially after he defected to a new political party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The virality of the claim and the personality involved prompted DUBAWA to verify the claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verification<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

DUBAWA conducted a reverse image search and discovered that El-Rufai had posted the picture on his X account<\/a> on May 1, 2025. He shared that he joined the Anohu family at a funeral mass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

El-Rufai\u2019s post caption reads, \u201cWe joined the Anohu family at the funeral mass held this morning in Okija for Chief Mathias Chidi Anohu. May his kind soul rest in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is El-Rufai now a Christian?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

El-Rufai, who served as Governor of Kaduna State for eight years, defected<\/a> in March 2025 from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He aims to persuade opposition leaders and parties to join him and challenge the sitting All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of religion, all available news reports like this one<\/a> show El-Rufai is a known Muslim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, there are no reports of his conversion to Christianity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The claim that El-Rufai is now a churchgoer as part of the campaign for his 2027 Presidential <\/strong>ambition is misleading. An X post by El-Rufai revealed the image was from a funeral mass. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claim: Facebook user, Sroc Partner, shared an image of Nasir El-Rufai alleging he is now a churchgoer, as part of the campaign for his 2027 presidential ambition. Verdict: Misleading. El-Rufai had posted the picture in the claim on his X page with a caption saying he was in Okija, Anambra State, to attend the funeral mass of an associate. Full Text On May 3, 2025, a Facebook user named Sroc Partner posted a picture of the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, flanked by people in a gathering.  The post caption read, \u201c2027: Malam Nasir El-Rufai now attends church services to appease the same Christian community he previously expressed strong sentiments against. Behold our new Bishop in the making.\u201d As of May 8, 2025,  the post had garnered 228 comments, 41 shares, and 290 reactions. This sparked debate among many users, with many condemning El-Rufai for attending a church service to buy their sympathy for his presidential ambition.  Comments include those of Lekan Awe, who wrote: \u201cDeceit of the highest order! Persecuting Christians when in office as governor. Naija politicians no go die well, walahi.\u201d Olalekan Quadri also wrote, \u201cElrufai is a disgrace to his constituency, the few Fulani elites who are teaming up to grab power again to oppress the Nigerian masses. He will never succeed in sha Allah Ameen.\u201d Another Facebook user, Ojo Victor Echo, posted the same image on May 2, 2025, with the caption \u201cWonder shall never end, former Gov, NASIRU EL-RUFAI in church service.\u201d The same image was also shared on Facebook, here, and here, and on YouTube. Recently, El-Rufai has been in the news, and different narratives have been told about him, especially after he defected to a new political party. The virality of the claim and the personality involved prompted DUBAWA to verify the claim. Verification DUBAWA conducted a reverse image search and discovered that El-Rufai had posted the picture on his X account on May 1, 2025. He shared that he joined the Anohu family at a funeral mass.  El-Rufai\u2019s post caption reads, \u201cWe joined the Anohu family at the funeral mass held this morning in Okija for Chief Mathias Chidi Anohu. May his kind soul rest in peace.\u201d Is El-Rufai now a Christian? El-Rufai, who served as Governor of Kaduna State for eight years, defected in March 2025 from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He aims to persuade opposition leaders and parties to join him and challenge the sitting All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.  In terms of religion, all available news reports like this one show El-Rufai is a known Muslim.  So far, there are no reports of his conversion to Christianity.  Conclusion The claim that El-Rufai is now a churchgoer as part of the campaign for his 2027 Presidential ambition is misleading. An X post by El-Rufai revealed the image was from a funeral mass. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"hannibal_claim_source":"","hannibal_source_label":"","hannibal_card_color":"blue","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[1571,437,3812,3815],"tags":[],"verdict":[],"ppma_author":[890],"class_list":["post-22708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-check","category-facebook-checks","category-headline","category-homepage"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8R6dE-5Ug","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":890,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"justina-asishana","display_name":"Justina Asishana","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Justina-Asishana.png","url2x":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Justina-Asishana.png"},"author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"Asishana","first_name":"Justina","job_title":"","description":"Justina Asishana<\/strong> is the Niger state correspondent for The Nation Newspaper, Nigeria's foremost nationwide daily and online newspaper. Justina has previously worked at the New Nigerian newspaper and Daily Newswatch newspaper as the Niger state correspondent.\r\n\r\nShe is an upcoming data and investigative journalist who has just discovered how to use data and data related tools for better reporting. She has done some investigative reporting for her media organization, The Nation Newspaper, the International Center for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), and the Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ).\r\n\r\nShe covers all sectors as a state correspondent. She was recently inducted as a Dubawa Fellow which is a fact checking fellowship to combat misinformation in the state and nation; she is the 2019 ONE Champion in Niger state and was the ICFJ 2018 Safety Fellow.\r\n\r\nMs Justina is not afraid to explore new subjects and topics as she is always open and ready to learn new things in the field of journalism. She loves to read, write, explore the internet, travel, network, experiment with data tools and advocate for the rights of the people."}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Elrufai-mass.jpg?fit=720%2C540&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22710,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22708\/revisions\/22710"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22708"},{"taxonomy":"verdict","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verdict?post=22708"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=22708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}