1. PDP Vanguard, tweeted using its twitter handle, @PDPVanguard, a photo of Former APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, casting his vote for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Edo election.
The photo has been doctored. An online search, usingVeracity, a verification tool, showed the ballot in the original image is blank, while the portion showing the party he voted for was not captured in the photo. A twitter user, Dagilogba Mohammed posted the original photo on his handle, @Integrity1991. A video of Oshiomhole casting his vote, posted on twitter by Abdultoyeed using the handle, @Jattomicine, also showed the photo circulated by PDPVangaurd was doctored.
2. Edo Decides: They are rigging me out- Gov Obaseki cries out.” Source: Daily Post, 19 September 2020
A review of the statement, on which the story was based, shows that Obaseki or his aides did not make the statement he was quoted as saying in the headline. Newspapers like Premium Times and TheCable, which also published stories from the statement, had no such attribution. The governor’s aide, Crusoe Osagie, who sent the statement to media houses only expressed his grievances on the conduct of the election so far.
3. Some Twitter users claimed that the portal showing the results of the ongoing Edo governorship election is fake and does not belong to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
INEC indeed has an online portal for checking results. The portal address is www.inecelectionresults.com. The electoral body has also been uploading the results of the ongoing Edo poll on the portal for the public to check.
The claim is FALSE.
4. Twitter User post a picture of result sheet claiming it to be Edo election result at local government level. Source: Twitter
Dubawa got in contact with PTCIJ observers in the local government listed in the picture and most of them are still at the RAC centres while others at the local government level are yet to finish collating results.
False
5. A twitter handle, PDP Vanguard (@PDPvanguard) claims that Obaseki won at Ize-Iyemu’s polling unit.
Nasir Ayitogo, a reporter with Premium Times who was at the scene, confirmed that Ize-Iyamu polled 292 votes while Godwin Obaseki of the Peoples Democratic Party got 21 votes, which makes Ize Iyamu the winner. The APC candidate voted at 9:30 am at polling unit 26, ward 5 in Iguododo community, Orionhwon Local Government Area. Other media sources like ThePunch and TheNation also confirmed Ize Iyamu’s victory. Hence, this claim is false.
False
6. Several Twitter users shared pictures of an “APC Akara Spot” with comments depicting that the spot came up ahead of the 2020 Edo State gubernatorial election.
Checks by Dubawa indicates that the pictures are from the 2016 Edo State gubernatorial election and not 2020. In the build up to the 2016 election, which the incumbent governor, Godwin Obaseki, contested under the flagship of APC, the party supporters distributed akara, a staple snack, to woo voters.
7. Polling booth moved to hotel owned by APC Chieftain
Abasi- Ibiangake Udoka, PTCIJ Observer in Egor confirmed that there is a polling unit beside Play House Hotel at Okhoro and not inside the hotel as claimed in the post. The owner of the open field initially didn’t allow the space to be used and the parking space of the hotel was suggested but was met with opposition. Peace has returned to the polling unit and the initial space allocated for it is being used.
8. Twitter Video claims Buhari gave Nigerians a quick message after Ganduje lands in Edo
Checks by Dubawa indicates that the video is old. It went viral on 25 June, 2019 when the President made a comment about his commitment to serving Nigerians and Nigeria.
9. APC Edo state, via its Twitter handle, claimed that voting process was disrupted in Esan North East Council, Uromi Ward 8 PU 8. Source: Twitter, 19 September, 2019
PTCIJ Observer, in the area, Ajiboye Stephen, confirmed that the Ward mentioned in the claim only has 6 polling units and there is nothing like Polling unit 8 in the ward. Also, voters from other wards could not confirm any disruption.
10. A twitter user, David AbdulrazakAttah, tweeted using his handle, @abdulaziz-abdulazizthe_davidatta, that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is losing the governorship election in Edo State.
The tweet is misleading as voting is still ongoing in Edo and INEC is yet to start the collation of the results to show the party that is losing. INEC’s guidelines show that there are six stages of vote collation before results are announced in a governorship election. These stages don’t start until after the last accredited voter has voted.
11. A user on twitter shared a photograph with the claim that bundles of cash are stashed in Oshomole’s house and a suggestion that the money would be shared to voters. The same picture was shared on Nairaland with a suggestion that the money belongs to APC leader, Bola Tinubu.
A Google, Yandex, and Bing image reverse search could not trace the photograph to any source. Although the location and source are unknown, there are no pointers or clues within the picture that depicts the money is stashed in Oshomole’s house or that it belongs to Tinubu. There is not enough evidence to prove these claims. They are misleading.
12. APC share money through youth employment programme on the eve of Edo state governorship elections!
The Video was traced to its original source. It was uploaded on Twitter, on 16 September 2020 by Gloria Adagbon. While the video clearly shows vote-buying, careful examination of the video at different frames shows indication it was Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with their logo printed on the shirt of the person sharing the wrappers and an umbrella having the party colours.
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
