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Claim: Social media users share footage of a Nigerian senator criticising and accusing the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) of power abuse.
Verdict: Misleading! While the video is real, it does not refer to the current IGP or AGF. The footage is of a 2018 Senate sitting chaired by the former Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
Full Text
A one-minute 29-second video of an unnamed Nigerian senator accusing the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) of power abuse has made the rounds on social media.
“This Attorney General is becoming a nuisance. Look at the attorney general going to court to stop the Senate from investigating Maina; we’re still here. The IG came here with a lawyer who said he won’t answer any questions from the Senate. After that, he went to institute an order in court restraining the senate from investigating him…” the senator said in the footage.
On Aug. 10, 2025, X user @TENBEGILOJU202 shared the clip with the caption,
“INTERESTING DAYS AHEAD AS THEIR CENTRE CAN NO LONGER HOLD!!! The senators are extremely angry with the IGP and the attorney general for disrespecting and daring them. It is now the ‘Clash of Titans’ in Abuja. Retweet till it gets to the Jagabandits.”
As of Aug. 14, 2025, the post has attracted 62,000 views and over 1,200 reposts. On Facebook, Elizabeth Oludele and Emmanuel Okafor have also shared it, brewing controversial debates.
DUBAWA conducted this fact check due to the claim’s sensitivity and the personalities involved.
Verification
We conducted a reverse image search, which led us to a more extended version of the clip published on YouTube on Jan. 20, 2018. In that video, a senator identified as Isah Misau, who was then representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District, is seen speaking angrily during a Senate session chaired by former Senate President Bukola Saraki.
In the 12-minute video, Isah, while speaking about the state of security in the country, blamed police failures for the rising killings and crimes. He said police presence in vulnerable areas was almost nonexistent. He also said officers often leave their posts when needed, and poor leadership was at the heart of the problem.
During that same session, Isah raised concerns over the lack of prosecution for Babachir Lawal, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, despite his indictment months earlier by a committee headed by then-Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
He then accused the (former) Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami, and (former) IGP, Ibrahim Idris, of power abuse, as projected in the viral footage. Isah faulted Abubakar for his involvement in the controversial reinstatement of Abdulrasheed Maina, the former Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team. He accused the Attorney-General of actively shielding Maina from scrutiny by taking legal steps to stall the Senate’s investigation.
Furthermore, we manually checked the Nigerian Senate plenary sessions from 2017 to 2018 and found the full recording on the Senate’s official YouTube channel. This plenary was live-streamed on Jan. 17, 2018, with Isah speaking from 0:32:18 to 0:44:00 of the two-hour, 23-minute video.
The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) also reported the incident the same day.
Conclusion
While the viral footage is real, our findings show it has been online since January 2018. It has nothing to do with the current administration.
