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Claim: An X user, via a video post, claims that there are recent plans to Islamise Nigeria.
Verdict: Misleading! Evidence from credible media outlets shows that the Islamic support for Mr Tinubu happened in 2023 before he became Nigeria’s president.
Full Text
The 2023 election that brought President Tinubu to power was marred by controversy following the Islamic religious affiliation of the two representatives of the All Progressive Congress (APC). This development sparked criticism from Christian unions and Nigerians who perceive the coalition as a negative and unfavourable representation at the federal level.
On Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, an X user, @JPChidiOkoye1, shared a video showing a man speaking about the Muslim-Muslim ticket. In the video, many Islamic clerics can be seen in attendance.
“Evil agenda to Islamize Nigeria is still ongoing,” this user wrote.
Available data on the post shows that as of Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, the footage has amassed about 15,000 views, 113 likes, 21 comments, and 52 reposts.
Going through the post’s comment section, we noticed that many commenters believed the post.
“Let’s celebrate Muslim-Muslim tickets until we all have no country call(ed) Nigeria. Could U just imagine the rubbish…!”@Nakson147 asserted.
Another user, @fido1hn, satirically wrote,
“Them never get light for one week now. Na their Muslim-Muslim ticket go kpai them all.”
Meanwhile, @tv_wakawak expressed, “These people are a curse! Anywhere you find them! The agender is (the) same! Death and destruction.”
DUBAWA decided to verify the video’s recency and authenticity, given the post’s contentious nature and potential to incite religious and political rife.
Verification
DUBAWA analysed keyframes from the posted video using Google Reverse Image Search. The result led us to similar videos posted on X (here and here) in 2023.
Further investigation also led to the original video posted on Facebook on Jan. 6, 2023. The video was the same as the one posted by the claimant but with a different audio. In this particular video, the man spoke in Hausa. The Facebook caption reads,
“History will not repeat itself, and there will be no annulment this time around (referring to the Muslim/ Muslim ticket of APC). Dr Abdullmudalib Muhammad, the Convener of the meeting, then stated the purpose of the meeting,” part of the post reads.
“The participants are Muslims and Islamic clerics. We gathered Muslims from all persuasions to enlighten them on ensuring that the Muslim/ Muslim ticket succeeds. We invited over 75 Islamic groups from several states, including Yoruba and Igbo Muslims.
We told the Islamic clerics /participants that the issue is not about building infrastructure for the nation, but the major issue is who will promote Islam. We told the participants that a Muslim, wherever he is, is better than a kafiri (unbeliever) non-Muslim…” he wrote further.
To understand the context of the 2023 video, we performed a keyword search, which directed us to several reports published in January 2023.
Republican News published a report on Jan. 7, 2023, of a prayer session organised by Muslim clerics in the Northwest to support President Tinubu ahead of the 2023 general election.
The report further explained that a Nigerian Islamic preacher, Abdulmutallab Mohammed, emphasised the importance of supporting President Tinubu, describing the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket as not just the supremacy of Islam but a call to Jihad.
Daily Post and Head Topics also reported a similar development.
Furthermore, we observed that the video discussion centred on the 2023 election, and Tinubu had yet to be declared Nigeria’s president then.
Conclusion
DUBAWA’s findings show that the video is not recent, as it has been online since 2023. Therefore, the claim is misleading.
