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Claim: A Facebook user shared a video claiming that former Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu recently urged Nigerians to reject the APC at state and national levels.
Verdict: Misleading. The video is from a 2022 interview, not a recent statement ahead of the 2027 elections.
Full Text
A Facebook account, News Direct, shared a video (archived here) of former Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu claiming he urged Nigerians to reject the APC at both the state and national levels in the 2027 election.
The video’s caption read, “Former Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu Urges Nigerians to Reject APC in 2027, Admits Party Has Wrecked Nigeria.”
The video showed two men in a studio setting with headphones and a microphone, as if in an interview. One of them was Adelabu, the former Minister of Power.
Although they spoke in Yoruba, DUBAWA sought a Yoruba speaker to interpret the conversation. Adelabu said it is hard to defend a political party that has not made a difference, so in most cases, aspirants during campaigns tell voters to look at the candidates, not the party. He also said in the past, when he was a member of the APC, it was hard for him and other party members to seek votes using the APC.
Adelabu said, “APC has done eight years between 2015 and 2023. Please, what changes have we experienced so far? I am grateful that I did not secure the APC gubernatorial ticket because it would have been very difficult to canvass the populace for votes, since we would be telling prospective voters to look at the candidates, not the political party. We cannot canvass for votes using political parties again; we should not deceive ourselves. The truth will definitely be told. We need to speak the truth when the time comes. ”
As of Oct. 22, 2026, the post had 248 likes, 94 comments, and 182 shares.
DUBAWA checked the comments to gauge users’ thoughts.
@Bashir Adebeshin wrote, “You who voted, did you see their politicians go to the position because of you?”
@Akintunde Lateef asked, “Because you lost your primary election. Have you asked yourself if Oyo people are ready to vote for you with your stupid performance as Power Minister?”
@Akerele David remarked, “Minister of darkness. Now you realise that APC is bad. You are going to fall into the EFCC net now.”
The same claim was also shared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Because the video circulated on Facebook and could shape public perception of political parties ahead of the 2027 general elections, DUBAWA verified the claim.
Verification
DUBAWA took a screenshot of the video and ran it through Google Lens to trace its origin. We combined the results with keyword searches using Adebayo Adelabu’s name and the radio station’s name, Lagelu FM.
The search led to a Facebook post by Lagelu FM 96.7 in Ibadan, which carried a clearer version of the same video and conversation. The station shared it on Aug. 20, 2022. This established that the clip is an excerpt from a 2022 radio interview, not a recent statement made ahead of the 2027 elections, as the post suggests.
DUBAWA also ran repeated keyword searches to check whether Adelabu had recently granted another interview to the same radio station, in case the viral video was a mix-up. Apart from the old interview, we found no recent interview of Adelabu.
The political context matches that of the original interview. After losing the APC governorship primary in Oyo State, Adelabu joined the Accord Party in June 2022 and contested the 2023 election as its candidate. He returned to the APC in December 2023 and served as Power Minister from August 2023 to April 2026.
In the video, Adelabu described the APC as an opposition candidate, not a party member. The post gives neither the original date nor the surrounding conversation, presenting an old statement as a recent call against the party.
Beyond the date, DUBAWA also compared the Facebook user’s caption with what Adelabu said in the video. The interpretation of the Yoruba conversation, reproduced above, shows no point where he urges Nigerians to reject the APC at the state or national level, or says the party has “wrecked” Nigeria, as the caption claims. He questions what the APC changed between 2015 and 2023 and says he is grateful he did not secure the party’s governorship ticket because voters should look at the aspirants rather than the party.
He criticised the party’s record and argued that candidates should be judged on performance; he did not call for voters to reject the APC. DUBAWA could not find the full interview, as Lagelu FM did not share more of it, so we cannot say what else was discussed. However, nothing in the circulated portion supports the claimant’s caption.
Conclusion
DUBAWA’s findings show that the video is from a 2022 interview, not a recent statement by Adelabu ahead of the 2027 elections. The portion of the interview in circulation also does not contain the call to reject the APC that the caption attributes to him. Hence, the claim is misleading.