Claim: Express, a Facebook page, shared a link claiming that Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), apologised to Nigerians for allegedly manipulating the 2023 general election outcome.
Verdict: FALSE. The news lacked relevant details to validate the claim, and no credible media organisation reported such information. Also, the website displayed traits of clickbait.
Full Text
Many Nigerian electorates were unsatisfied with the outcome of the 2023 presidential election, which brought Bola Tinubu to power. His major opponents, Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), frequently criticised the outcome and Mr Tinubu’s actions in office.
Two years later, a Facebook page, Express, shared news from a website, Daily Excessive, which claimed that Mahmood Yakubu, the chairperson of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), apologised to Nigerians for election manipulation. The news alleged that Mr Mahmood altered the election result in favour of Mr Tinubu because his life and those of his loved ones were in danger.
In the report, Mr Mahmood allegedly said the unjustifiable action was one of his most difficult decisions ever.
As of May 5, 2025, the claim has gained 32 reactions, 64 comments, and 101 reshares.
We observed that the message, shared with DUBAWA for verification, had been forwarded many times on WhatsApp.
The virality of the claim and its implications on electoral integrity in Nigeria prompted DUBAWA to fact-check the claim.
Verification
We went through the website and read the said article. After reading the report, we noticed the news had no relevant context. The news did not reveal the occasion or situation that led to Mr Mahmood’s statement, nor was the moment included.
We clicked the website’s logo to view its homepage, but two attempts redirected us to trading websites. This trait is a prominent trait of clickbait, and DUBAWA has fact-checked such websites here, here, and here.
We attempted to authenticate the website’s credibility on ScamAdviser, but it said the website could not be found or reached.
DUBAWA discovered that the Facebook page which shared the claim was created on June 9, 2019. We also observed that out of seven reviews given to the page, two users urged it to provide accurate news.
We also conducted keyword searches using key phrases from the quote and found no credible news reports. However, we found that the claim had also been shared on another Facebook page, UNITED NATIONS MISSION FOR REFERENDUM IN BIAFRALAND, by Igbo Times Magazine on May 4, 2025. The link to read more in the post led to a Telegram game platform.
We contacted Mr Mahmood’s spokesperson, Rotimi Oyekanmi, for comments on this claim, but as of this writing, we have yet to receive a response.
Conclusion
The viral news claiming that INEC chairperson, Yakubu Mahmood, apologised to Nigerians for supposedly manipulating the outcome of the 2023 general election is false. The website that shared this is clickbait.