Claim: Bola Tinubu is giving N25,000 as presidential election funds, a viral claim on WhatsApp suggested.
Verdict: False. The Presidential Campaign Council of Tinubu describes the message as “fake.”
Full Text
After it was announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria that Bola Amed Tinubu won Nigeria’s presidential election, a message started circulating on WhatsApp that a N25,000 presidential election fund had been provided by Mr Tinubu.
The message surfaced in many group chats on the Liberian social media space, leaving DUBAWA wondering if the funds were also available for Liberians or for Nigerians based in Liberia.
DUBAWA then tracked the viral WhatsApp message to verify its truthfulness.
Verification
DUBAWA contacted the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of Mr Tinubu, which refuted the claim in the viral Whats App chat.
Hope Obeten, a member of the PCC, stated that “you are the third person bringing this to our attention, and the claim being made by that website is fake.”
DUBAWA then clicked the link of the viral WhatsApp message, but it appeared to be broken, giving no access as would be done by other sites.
Conclusion
Therefore, the claim circulating on social media that Mr Tinubu is disbursing N25,000 for the presidential election is a hoax!
The researcher produced this fact-check per the DUBAWA 2023 Kwame KariKari Fellowship in partnership with The Stage Media – Liberia to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.
