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Claim: A Facebook post claimed President Bola Tinubu ordered the suspension of Ola Olukoyede, chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over the arrest of activist Martins Vincent Otse (VDM).
Verdict: False! The video accompanying the claim was used in a misleading context. The presidency has not issued a public statement over the arrest of VDM, nor has it suspended the EFCC chairperson as claimed.
Full Text
The Nigerian social media space has been agog with conversations surrounding the arrest and detention of Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as Very Dark Man (VDM).
VDM was arrested on May 2, 2025, when he visited a commercial bank branch. According to his lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, he was held in the exit doors for over five minutes by officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to enable his arrest.
His arrest and subsequent detention has since been condemned by many Nigerians on social media, including public figures like former presidential candidates Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, who called for the release of the activist.
On May 5, 2025, some youth took to the streets of Abuja to protest what they described as the illegal arrest of the activist. They aggrieved youths thronged the headquarters of the EFCC and the premises of the bank where he was allegedly arrested to register their displeasure.
Amid this, a social media user, Agozi Commedy, posted a video clip showing Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, addressing Nigerians in a broadcast.
The video’s caption suggested that President Tinubu called for the suspension of the current EFCC chairperson, Olanipekun Olukoyede, as a result of VDM’s arrest.
Due to the sensitivity of the claim and its potential to mislead people, DUBAWA decided to fact-check it.
Verification
In the 7-minute-long clip posted by Facebook user, Tinubu made reference to a protest and the chaos erupting from it. He also condemned the wanton destruction of property by the protesters.
The president also noted his willingness to bring back public order and encouraged the protesters to suspend the demonstrations and embrace dialogue.
The Facebook user had linked the video to the arrest of VDM. However, checks by DUBAWA showed that the president did not mention VDM or EFCC in the video.
Further findings showed that the video shared by the social media user was taken from a nationwide broadcast of the president on Aug 24, 2024, during the #EndBadGovernance protest.
At the time, some Nigerians had organised a protest, which was held from Aug 1 to 10, 2024, to register their displeasure over some government policies believed to have worsened the standard of living of average Nigerians.
Originally planned to be a peaceful demonstration, the protest turned out to be chaotic in some parts of the country, with protesters setting some vehicles on fire and looting some facilities.
This prompted the government’s intervention, including imposing a curfew in the affected areas. President Tinubu also held a nationwide broadcast at the time.
Meanwhile, DUBAWA did a keyword search on Tinubu’s alleged suspension of the EFCC chairperson and saw that there was no report indicating such.
The report that surfaced was one from June 2023 which indicated that President Tinubu suspended AbdulRasheed Bawa, a former Chairperson of the EFCC, to ensure investigations into “weighty allegations” of abuse of office against Bawa.
Also, President Tinubu has not made any remark regarding Very Dark Man’s arrest, as that has been the purview of the EFCC.
Conclusion
The Facebook post claiming Tinubu has suspended the EFCC chairperson over VDM’s arrest is false.
