IN SHORT: In elections in Africa, as across the world, money makes a difference. Having infinite resources would give a candidate an edge. But a quote allegedly by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote backing the ruling party is unsupported by evidence.
Has Nigeria’s richest man said that the presidential candidate of the country’s ruling party was instrumental to a US$20 billion investment?
That’s the claim in the form of a quote circulating on Facebook in the country.
The post reads: “‘ASIWAJU helped me to set up my $20bn refinery in Lagos. I will forever remain grateful to him’ ~ Aliko Dangote.”
“Asiwaju” is a name of respect given to Bola Tinubu, who is running for president on the ticket of the governing All Progressives Congress. It means “one who leads” in the Yoruba language widely spoken in Lagos state in southern Nigeria.
Nigeria will pick a president on 25 February 2023.
Dangote, Africa’s richest man, is building a private refinery in the country’s biggest city and economic hub, Lagos.
Construction began in 2015. When complete it will have a capacity of processing 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
The country is Africa’s largest oil exporter but due to a lack of refining capacity imports nearly all its fuel.
Tinubu governed the state of Lagos from 1999 to 2007, several years before the refinery’s construction started.
The importance of the claim is that having the lasting gratitude – and financial support – of Dangote would give Tinubu a formidable financial war chest for campaigning.
The same post appeared on Facebook here, here and here.
But did Dangote say this?
No evidence for quote
The Facebook post didn’t say where and when Dangote allegedly made this statement. We checked his refinery’s website to see if Tinubu is credited as a funder or supporter but didn’t find anything.
Investors listed include major organisations such as the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation and the African Development Bank.
It is possible Tinubu, an influential politician, could have helped “set up” the refinery in one way or another.
But there’s no evidence Dangote made this particular statement publicly. We found no media reporting of this, which would be unlikely if it were true because of the national profiles of the two men.
This is another fabricated quote intended to mislead the public as the election nears, part of a trend Africa Check has identified.
Republish our content for free
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Add new comment