Obasanjo

  • Property in UAE not owned by Atiku as claimed in viral video

    Claim: A viral video claims that Atiku is the owner of a skyscraper located in the United Arab Emirates.

    The claim is false. DUBAWA’s findings revealed that the building belongs to Tiger Group, a UAE-based real estate development firm. It has nothing to do with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate.

    Full Text 

    Recently, a video was circulated on social media with the claim that a building located in the United Arab Emirates belongs to Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate.

    The short video shows a tall structure with a female voice-over in the background making the following allegations:

    “The building you see here in Dubai belongs to Atiku Abubakar but the sad reality is that no Nigerian is employed in any of the buildings doing anything.  Of course we can now understand Obasanjo when he said that the money Atiku looted can feed 400 million Nigerians for 400 years. We cannot be fooled more than once. Be wise, Nigerians.

    The video has been widely shared

    The video has been widely shared across social media platforms and blogs, suggesting to users that the information is correct. Therefore, DUBAWA opted to verify the accuracy of the claim.

    Verification 

    DUBAWA conducted a Google keyword search to see if Mr Abubakar owns any skyscraper in Dubai. With no clear result, we resorted to making a reverse image search; however, that was also futile.

    We further scan-searched a fragment of the video with Google Lense, a tool that allows users to scan and search what is seen on the surface of pictures. This provided the exact location and picture of the building at 898M+QW5 – Al Majaz – Al Nahdha – Sharjah – United Arab Emirates. The building is beside Kitcherama Group, a kitchen supply store.

    Building address is 898M+QW5 – Al Majaz – Al Nahdha – Sharjah – United Arab Emirates 

    The clear picture of Tiger Building. Credit: Deepak Mendonca

    A description on Google maps revealed that the property belongs to Tiger Group, a real estate development company in the UAE with over 200 completed projects. The company is headed by “Eng. Waleed Mohammad AlZoubi.”

    The building belongs to Tiger Group

    In addition to our findings, information on Google maps shows that this building is located in Sharjah and not Dubai as claimed. Sharjah is one of the seven emirates that constitute the United Arab Emirates.

    Property is in Sharjah, not Dubai

    Conclusion

    Our findings have revealed that the property belongs to Tiger Group and has nothing to do with Atiku Abubakar. Therefore, the claim is false.

  • Spraying of Naira notes is an offence punishable by imprisonment in Nigeria

    Some Facebook users recently argued that spraying of naira notes is an offence in Nigeria. They were reacting to the footage of the wedding of President Muhammadu Buhari’s daughter where guests were seen spraying Naira notes.

    True: the claim that “spraying of naira notes is an offence” is true. Section 21 of the CBN Act 2007 clearly states that spraying of Naira notes is an offence punishable by six months imprisonment or a fine of N50,000 or both for offenders.

    Full Text

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s daughter, Hanan, got married to Mohammed Sani Sha’aban, at the Presidential Villa on Friday, September 4.

    On Sunday, September 6, Sahara Reporters published footage of some moments at the wedding showing guests as they spray money on the smiling couple.

    The footage has generated over 2,000 comments and about 5,000 shares on Sahara Reporters Facebook page, as of Saturday, September 12, with Nigerians arguing on the legality, or not, of spraying of Naira notes.

    While some claimed that spraying of Naira notes is illegal, others argued that there is nothing wrong with it.

    For instance, a Facebook user, Baffa Garba wrote: “I don’t see anything wrong here it’s just Naira and of course N200 Naira notes even an ordinary marriage may have better than this,  they are both from big background they have friends and relatives who can do it”

    “Let be sincere with ourselves here,what do you expect them to spray is paper,or leaves, certainly it must be naira even if it is common Nigerian wedding ceremony naira must be sprayed.may God be with us,” another Facebook user, Semiu Adegoke, wrote.

    However, Dare Olowookere, differed in his own submission, claiming that the practice is illegal. 

    “Spraying of naira notes is an offence. CBN spent millions of naira every year for campaign against naira abuse, here the first family children disobeying the law. The CBN Governor might even be at this party. Truly Nigeria is a contradiction under this regime,” Olowokere claimed.

    Verification

    To confirm the veracity of the claim, Dubawa surfed the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria’s apex monetary authority, for relevant (legislative) documents.

    Section 21 of the CBN Act 2007 deals with tampering with, and trading, in Naira notes. The Act prescribes “imprisonment for a term not less than six months or to a fine not less than N50,000 or to both such fine and imprisonment for anyone guilty of “spraying of, dancing or matching on the Naira or any note issued by the Bank during social occasions”.

    The full section is reproduced below: 

    “21. ——(1) A person who tampers with a coin or note issued by the Bank is guilty of an offence and shall on notes and coins imprisonment for a term not less than six months or to a fine not less than N50,000 or to both such fine and imprisonment.

    (2) A coin or note shall be deemed to have been tampered with if the coin or note has been impaired, diminished or lightened otherwise than by fair wear and tear or has been defaced by stumping, engraving, mutilating, piercing, stapling, writing, tearing, soiling, squeezing or any other form of deliberate and willful abuse whether the coin or note has or has not been thereby diminished or lightened.

    (3) For the avoidance of doubt, spraying of, dancing or matching on the Naira or any note issued by the Bank during social occasions or otherwise howsoever shall constitute an abuse and defacing of the Naira or such note and shall be punishable under Sub-section (1) of this section.

    (4) It shall also be an offence punishable under Sub-section (1) of this section for any person to hawk, sell or otherwise trade in the Naira notes, coins or any other note issued by the Bank.

    (5) In this section——

    (i) “Matching” includes spreading scattering or littering of any surface with any Naira notes or coins and stepping thereon, regardless of the value, volume, occasion or intent.

     (ii) “Spraying” includes adorning, decorating or spraying anything or any person or any part of any person or the person of another with Naira notes or coins or sprinkling or sticking of the Naira notes or coins in a similar manner regardless of the amount, occasion or the intent.”

    The law became necessary in a bid by the CBN to minimize “costs in printing and minting currency.”

    Enforcement of the Act

    Though the law has been in place since 2007, there has been no report of arrests or prosecution for spraying of Naira notes at social events, despite being a prevalent practice in the country.

    The only reported cases of arrest have been about those hawking the notes, not those spraying. Few instances of the reports of such arrests can be found here, here and here

    Also, the CBN’s “Clean Notes Policy” campaign to discourage the practice has not yielded much results.

    A report by The Nation states that enforcing the law has been difficult because it “has had to contend with Nigerians’ culture of spraying money at social events”.

    Even former president Olusegun Obasanjo who signed the bill into law was caught, with pictures, a situation which led to criticisms against the central bank for failing to enforce its laws, according to a Premium Times report.

    Also, controversial former Kogi senator, Dino Melaye, was seen on video spraying notes on a singer, Yinka Ayefele, at his mother’s burial in 2019.

    In 2018, the CBN and commercial banks announced they have resolved to introduce mobile courts to arrest currency hawkers and people who spray at parties.

    “In the near future, there is going to be an introduction of mobile courts to handle such situations and those caught would be dealt with on the spot,” Hamda Ambah, managing director, FSDH Merchant Bank, said on behalf of the Bankers Committee.

    Two years later, nothing has been heard about the proposed mobile court.

    The CBN did not respond to Dubawa‘s email asking for the progress so far made in terms of the enforcement of the Act since 2007.

    Conclusion

    Spraying of Naira notes at social occasions or any other place is an offense, according to the CBN Act 2007. Section 21 of the Act prescribes a fine of N50,000 or six months imprisonment or both for anyone found culpable. 

    However, there is no evidence anyone has been arrested and prosecuted for the offence, despite its prevalence in the country.

    The researcher produced this fact-check per the Dubawa 2020 Fellowship to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country. 

  • And Another One, What Did Obasanjo Say About Coronavirus?

    Viral picture message suggests Obasanjo said that there is no coronavirus in Nigeria and that the minister of health lied. 

    President Obasanjo’s spokesperson, Kehinde Akinyemi refuted allegations attributed to Baba; a moniker often used to describe the former head of state. Additionally, Dubawa initiated a google reverse image search, which revealed that the “Fox News Writer” (the source) used the image out of context. 

    Full Text

    News of this viral statement attributed to the former Nigeria president has been trending on all media platforms. Particularly yesterday, March 4, Dubawa received this screenshot from several users on WhatsApp; with many questioning its authenticity. The circular elicited several reactions across social media

    Verification

    Firstly, Dubawa reached out to Olujonwon Obasanjo (his son) via a mutual contact, to ascertain the legitimacy of the claim. We, however, got no response; we also sent a text message to him and await a response.

    Next, Dubawa put a call through to Kehinde Akinyemi, his spokesperson who was initially not forthcoming with the team. Notwithstanding, through the aid of a Premium Times correspondent, we were able to reach him.

    “any statement that is attributed to Baba but did not include when and where he made it should be disregarded. Baba didn’t say it and couldn’t have said it”

    Kehinde Akinyemi

    It would be TV news, not blog news

    Customary with the Former head of state, his known method of information dissemination, especially on matters of national importance, is through letter writing. Let’s assume it was an interview, what station broadcasted it? Would it not have made the 9’oclock news? These unanswered questions put a hole in this story’s plot. 

    Beyond words, images don’t lie.

    As it turns out, Fox News Writer published another article attributed to the former head of state in February, using the same image; this casts a cloud of scepticism on the claim’s authenticity. More so, to say the article was stingy with details would be an understatement. The publication failed to cover the essential 5 Ws and H; only saying “more details soon”. And this was since March 2.

    Interestingly, when you examine both images, they bear a Punch logo. So, Dubawa reached out the newsroom. We are yet to receive a response from them, though, all signs point to it being a doctored image. As always, we will update this fact-check once we receive new information.

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