IN SHORT: Several social media posts allege that Nigerian politician Rabiu Kwankwaso has ditched his party and met with president Bola Tinubu to discuss his move to the ruling All Progressives Congress. But the video used to support this claim is from 2023.
A video circulating on social media in Nigeria since April 2025 shows Nigerian politician Rabiu Kwankwaso and president Bola Tinubu exchanging pleasantries and posing for photos.
Users claim it shows Kwankwaso meeting with Tinubu behind closed doors.
One post reads: “DONE & DUSTED! Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso in close Door Meeting With President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
Kwankwaso is the former governor of Kano state in northern Nigeria and a member of the New Nigeria People’s Party, or NNPP. He was the NNPP’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections. But Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won.
The claim that Kwankwaso met with Tinubu came after several NNPP members defected to the APC. The posts imply that Kwankwaso is also planning to ditch the NNPP, while other posts show photos of Kwankwaso and Tinubu together and claim Kwankwaso has already made the move to the APC.
The claim also appears here and here. (Note: See more instances listed at the end of this report.)
But did Kwankwaso meet with Tinubu “behind closed doors” in April 2025? We checked.
Old video
Africa Check broke the video into keyframes and ran them through a Google reverse image search. The results showed that the video had been online since 2023.
The video and photos accompanying the claim were taken when Kwankwaso visited Tinubu at Aso Rock, the president’s residence, in June 2023. Kwankwaso also posted photos of the visit on his official X account.
The defection of some NNPP members to APC has received wide media coverage. If Kwankwaso had also made the move, it would have caught the media’s attention given his stature in the party. But we found no reports on this.
Hashimu Dungurawa, NNPP chair in Kano state, has denied the claim.
The video is old, and there is no evidence to support the claim that Kwankwaso has joined the APC.
The claim can also be found here, here, here, here and here.
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