Afeez Rabiu
Claim: Facebook Viral Post Claims Truck Loads of Money From Tinubu’s Compound were Arrested.
Detailed Text: A viral post on Facebook claims trucks carrying 40 ft long containers loaded with money have been arrested in Lagos enroot the bank from the APC presidential aspirant, Bola Tinubu’s compound.
The Facebook post from a page named Sirrin Siyasar Nigeria has since gathered 3700 plus likes,676 comments and also shared by 681 Facebook users amounting to over 8000 reactions in total.
The page has 253,451 followers as at the time of fact check with 85,908 likes to go with its largest number of followers being of the northern descent considering its usual publications in Hausa Language.
Verification:
In an investigation by FactCheck Elections to verify the claim, The stack of cash used in the post was found to have been used earlier in 2022 by various Nigerian media and especially by Punch to report the Naira redesign story.
Using a simple google reverse image search, the other photos of trucks as captured in the post were also from past events with one from a website on truck driving requirements in South Africa.
To further verify from authorities to ascertain the arrest , Factcheck Elections put a call through to the Lagos State PPRO @BenHundeyin severally but got no response to both calls and text messages sent.
However, a glance through various conventional media platforms to see reports on such occurrence too showed no results as the only media platform that published anything about it only disclaimed the false claim as made by a parody account of their platform.
Verdict: The post is deemed False as all evidence presented in it were found unrelated to the claim.
Explainer: In Nigeria, misinformation and disinformation have become a major concern during elections. These false or misleading pieces of information can have significant impacts on the outcome of an election and can undermine the democratic process.
During the recent elections in Nigeria, social media platforms and messaging apps were flooded with false information aimed at manipulating public opinion and swaying voters. This included false claims about the candidates, fake endorsements, and fabricated poll results. The spread of misinformation was facilitated by a lack of media literacy and the ease of creating and sharing false information online.
Additionally, political campaigns and partisan organizations have been known to spread disinformation to advance their own agendas. This includes the creation of fake news websites and the use of bots and other automated tools to amplify false information. The use of these tactics undermines the credibility of the election and can lead to distrust in the democratic process.
To combat this, the Nigerian government and civil society organizations have launched campaigns to educate the public on how to identify and combat misinformation and disinformation. This includes promoting media literacy, providing access to credible sources of information, and encouraging the use of fact-checking tools.
However, much more needs to be done to address this problem. Social media companies need to take stronger action to remove false information from their platforms and to prevent the spread of disinformation. The government also needs to enforce laws and regulations that prevent the spread of false information during elections.
In conclusion, misinformation and disinformation pose a serious threat to the integrity of elections in Nigeria. It is essential that steps are taken to combat these harmful practices and to ensure that citizens have access to accurate and reliable information during the electoral process.