Image logo of the African Democratic Congress. Photo Source: The Guardian
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Claim: A social media page shared a video claiming it was shot during a campaign rally of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) political party in Nigeria.
Verdict: Misleading! Contrary to the user’s assertion, the video referenced was shot during Côte d’Ivoire’s independence anniversary celebration and not the ADC campaign in Nigeria.
Full Text
Since the defection of some political opponents in Nigeria to the African Democratic Party (ADC), numerous campaign activities have been conducted to persuade the public to support the party.
Recently, the African Democratic Congress held a campaign rally ahead of a bye-election in Ogun State, allegedly disrupted by security operatives.
Following this development, a stalwart supporter of the ADC, @Gassol001, shared a video on Friday, August 15, 2025, claiming it was from a recent ADC rally. The video shows a mammoth crowd gathered outside a town square.
“What is actually forthcoming for APC and its affiliates is severe come 2027! Continue deceiving yourself, thinking ADC is unprepared,” reads the caption of the 34-second video.
As of Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, the post had amassed over 197,000 views, 780 likes, 200 reposts, 67 quotes, and 43 bookmarks.
In the comment section, some users believed the video, while others dismissed the claim as false.
“APC may face its toughest election battle in 2027,” @Umarwasp observed.
Another comment by @Oladijidada reads, “These folks have a solid contingency plan, which might be unpleasant for Pres Tinubu, if he attempts to rig the elections…”
Meanwhile, @Omoyesirhb dismissed the claim, saying, “Shame nor dey catch u? Must u guys upload fake videos to distort facts?”
Similar posts were shared on Facebook, as seen here and here.
Due to the massive engagement the post has garnered and its significance in relation to the 2027 general elections, DUBAWA decided to verify the claim.
Verification
We conducted a manual analysis of the video clip and noticed some inaccuracies.
DUBAWA noticed a flag waved throughout the video that resembles the national flag of Côte d’Ivoire.
In another observation, we noticed a building signage that reads, “Ecole Internationale Clairefontaine.” Meanwhile, Google results indicate that the name is associated with an educational institution in Abidjan, the capital of Côte d’Ivoire.
Furthermore, DUBAWA came across a similar image in a report by Afrikexpress on Aug. 15, 2025, that suggests it is located in Côte d’Ivoire.
DUBAWA further ran a Google Reverse Image Search on the screen grabs of the shared video, which led us to a similar TikTok video that was shared on August 9, 2025. Attached to the clip is an image of the current President of Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara.
DUBAWA discovered a similar video captioned “65th Anniversary of the independence of our sublime COTE D’IVOIRE.” We also checked for anniversary details and found a report by Africanews that confirmed the West African country’s anniversary celebration as Aug. 7, 2025.
Conclusion
The video was filmed in Côte d’Ivoire during its 65th anniversary of independence and is unrelated to Nigeria’s ADC rally.
It’s a case of over excitement and unconscious and inadvertently use of shared material.
It’s a case of over excitement and unconscious and inadequate use of shared material. Highly regrettable indeed.