Claim: Twitter user Ayekooto (@DeeOneAyekooto) shared a video claiming it is Nigeria’s joint armed forces band practising for the swearing-in of president-elect Bola Tinubu.
Verdict: MISLEADING. Our findings show the video was from Ghana when the Ghanaian armed forces were having a rehearsal session.
Full Text
The swearing-in ceremony of a new president in Nigeria is a beehive of activities, with all government agencies playing significant roles, including the nation’s armed forces.
As Nigeria prepares for the emergence of a new democratic government led by the country’s President-Elect, Bola Tinubu, party loyalists and citizens have been preparing for the swearing-in ceremony scheduled for May 29, 2023.
On the back of this, a supporter of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Ayekooto (@DeeOneAyekooto), shared a video claiming Nigeria’s joint armed forces band has started preparing for the May 29th ceremony.
“Joint armed forces band practising for the swearing in of the first city boy to become Nigeria’s President,” the tweet’s caption reads.
The tweet gained traction and has garnered over 24,500 views, 300 likes, and 100 retweets as of this report’s filing.
DUBAWA thought it pertinent to investigate the claim due to how quickly the video was spreading and the need to unravel the truth behind this assertion.
Verification
We first observed that the video shared by Ayekooto (@DeeOneAyekooto) was from TikTok with the name tag @nii_kotey49, whose account no longer exists. The video was, however, reposted by Danneilmartey685 (@danielmartey685).
A keyword search on YouTube revealed the uniform worn in the video is the official apparel of the Ghana Armed Forces central band.
Furthermore, a side-by-side comparison of captions in the first few seconds in both videos also pointed out that the caption on the video shared by Ayekooto (@DeeOneAyekooto) was edited to cover the Ghanaian flag in the original video.
Conclusion
Our findings show the video shared is of the Ghanaian armed forces, not the Nigerian joint armed forces band. The assertion is misleading.
The researcher produced this fact-check per the DUBAWA 2023 Kwame KariKari Fellowship partnership with Summitpost News to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.
