Claim: A Facebook user claimed that INEC had suspended elections in Yenagoa, Esan north, Esan south, and Igueben following violence in the affected parts.
Verdict: TRUE. According to the INEC briefing and Channels Television, the claim is true.
Full Text
Following the Presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday, February 25, a Facebook user Oma Don reported that The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) suspended elections in Yenagoa, Esan North, Esan South and Igueben due to violence in those parts.
The ten minutes video posted by the Facebook page shows the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, addressing the press for different reasons, including states that ballot boxes were destroyed, violence occurred, BVAS was stolen, and some political parties omitted on the ballot papers.
The sensitivity of the electoral process that is still ongoing and the virality of the post made DUBAWA verify the claim as it can lead to agitation by the affected parties.
Verification
We conducted an advanced search on the video and found that Channels Television originally posted it. We also discovered that other Television and media houses had uploaded the same video.
The video was from the INEC press briefing by the Chairman at the National Collation Centre, Abuja, on Saturday. The four wards marred with violence and disruption in Yenagoa were rescheduled to hold the next day.
In Edo state, one of the parties whose acronym rather than the logo was on the ballot paper in Esan North, Esan South, and Igueben has been rescheduled to hold on to March 11 with newly printed ballot papers. This is to ensure that no Nigerian citizen would be disenfranchised.
Conclusion
Our findings show that the video is true. INEC suspended and rescheduled elections in Yenagoa, Esan north, Esan south and Igueben.
