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No evidence presidential hopeful Atiku Abubakar said he loves Nigerian masses more than his children

A Facebook post claims to quote Nigeria’s former vice president Atiku Abubakar saying he loves the Nigerian masses more than his own children. 

On 23 March 2022, Abubakar declared his intention to run for president in the 2023 election. He contested the 2019 presidential election and came second to incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari.

The quote in Hausa reads: “Nafi Son Talakawan Nigeria Fiye Da Yayan Da Na Haifa.” This means “I love the Nigerian masses more than my own children”.

The post has been shared over 450 times. Some of the many comments on the post say it’s false, while others express support for Abubakar.

Did Abubakar say this in any of his recent public speeches?

Abubakar_False

No evidence of the statement online  

The post gives no details, such as where or when Abubakar supposedly made the statement. 

We searched online using key phrases on Google and did not find the quote in any credible media reports or Abubakar’s speeches.

The Nigerian media has reported most of Abubakar’s public activities and speeches since he was expected to and announced his decision to run for president in 2023. 

His Twitter and Facebook accounts record many of his activities and speeches, and we could not find any quote like this on his timelines. 

We also found it suspicious that the photo of Abubakar used in the post was at least five years old. A Google reverse image search revealed it was used in a November 2017 Facebook post.

Abubakar made many public speeches in February and March 2022, but we found no evidence of him saying he loves the Nigerian masses more than his own children.

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