By Pascal Ibe
Claim
An X user, @Jarmari∅1, posted a video showing Nigeria’s leader, Bola Tinubu, asking Nigerians to go to their governors for local issues and stop mentioning his name.
Verdict
This claim is MISLEADING.
When this Fact Checker subjected keyframes from the video to Google Lens, it was discovered that the original video was when Mr Tinubu addressed Nigerians after the country reverted to the old national anthem in May. The original video was altered by X users.
Full Text
An X user, @Jarmari∅1, has published a video showing where President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria asked Nigerians to go to their governors for local issues in the community.
The X user shared the video with a caption that reads, “Summon your governors for local issues in the community. Stop calling my name. I have done my best” ~President Tinubu
The post by @Jarmari∅1 generated over 179k views, 614 reposts, and more than 1.5k likes, according to X analytics at the time of filing this check.
Watch video here
FACTWATCH observed that many people believed that this video was real.
Verification
First, when this Fact Checker subjected keyframes from the video to Google Lens, results showed that the video first appeared online on May 31, where the president spoke about the newly adopted national anthem.
In May, Tinubu signed a bill bringing back the old national anthem in a move that triggered criticisms from several quarters.
See the original video here and here.
During a meeting with the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Tinubu dismissed the critics, insisting the reintroduction of the old anthem is not a misplaced priority as some have argued.
He also talked about the national security.
Further examination of the video shared by @Jarmari∅1 by FactWatch indicated that the voice in the video is different from Mr Tinubu’s voice as it was poor voicing. This confirmed that the video posted by the X user was AI-generated.
No credible news report anywhere confirmed that President Tinubu asked Nigerians to go to their governors for local issues, especially on Local Government matters.
Conclusion
This shared by the X user was altered as findings indicated that the original appeared online in May 2024.
