FACT CHECK! Post falsely claims Nigerian presidential candidate Peter Obi handed win by election tribunal
FACT CHECK! Post falsely claims Nigerian presidential candidate Peter Obi handed win by election tribunal
A social media post published with a video claimed that Nigeria’s electoral court had declared the Labour Party’s Peter Obi the winner of the February 25 presidential election. But this is false: the court is still hearing separate petitions filed by candidates — one of them Obi — who are contesting the results that saw the ruling party’s Bola Tinubu appointed president. As of July 24, 2023, the special tribunal had not yet delivered any judgments.
“Peter Obi has been declared d winner by d tribunal (sic),” reads a Facebook post published on July 18, 2023, and shared with more than 360 times.
A screenshot showing the false post, taken on July 20, 2023
The account behind the post regularly shares content in support of Obi.
The first part of the four-minute-long video shows a man narrating in pidgin English — a simplified form of English widely spoken in Nigeria — alongside pictures of Tinubu, Obi, and Orji Okpe, a TV presenter on local station Arise Television.
The narrator claims the election tribunal in Abuja ruled in favour of Obi, adding: “Mr. Jagaban don dey threaten Nigeria about chaos (sic).”
Tinubu, who was sworn in as president on May 29, 2023, is often called “Jagaban” by his party supporters. His election victory is being challenged by Obi, Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party and the Allied People Movement.
The video switches briefly to Tinubu and a clip showing him receiving his election certificate from the Nigerian election commission and talking about the court challenges, suggesting chaos would ensue if the results were overturned.
But the claim that the election court has declared Obi as the winner is false.
No judgment yet
The last update on proceedings was on July 14, 2023, when the Court of Appeal said it had reserved judgment in a petition brought by the Allied People Movement (archive here).
Days earlier, it had tweeted confirmation (archived here) that both Obi and Tinubu had closed their cases after all evidence had been presented and witnesses’ testimonies completed. The last instruction from the court to the legal teams was for the submission of final written arguments, after which judgment would follow.
Similarly, the petition (archived here) filed by Abubakar is also pending judgment after arguments were wrapped up on July 5, 2023. Again, the lawyers representing Abubakar and Tinubu were asked to submit their final written statements within 10 days.
The deadlines for all the parties to submit their closing arguments have passed. However, there has been no confirmation of when any of the matters will resume, and the judgments delivered.
Meanwhile, Tinubu continues to perform his role as president. On July 18, 2023, he met with presidents of Benin, Niger, Guinea Bissau, and the ECOWAS Commission President (archived here). He also issued a congratulatory message to Muslims on the Islamic New Year on July 19, 2023 (archived here)
The appeal court (archived here) is the first stage in the presidential election disputes and parties not satisfied with the ruling of the lower court can appeal to the Supreme Court which has the final say.
