Did Aisha Buhari, the wife of Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari, leave the presidential villa because the man there is in fact not her husband?
That’s the astonishing claim in the headline of an article on the blog SkyPost TV, a claim shared several times on Facebook.
The headline reads: “I left presidential villa because the man in asorock is not my husband, Aisha buhari.” Aso Rock is Nigeria’s White House, the office and residence of the president.
The article was posted on the Facebook group page Biafra My Country, with most of the comments agreeing with the claim.
“We all know d truth dat ur husband died long time ago,” one comment reads.
The post builds on an old rumour that Muhammadu Buhari died in London some time in 2017 or 2018, when he repeatedly visited the UK capital for treatment of an undisclosed ailment.
The rumour was that he was then replaced by body double. Buhari debunked it in December 2018, a few months before his re-election in February 2019.
But the headline is false and unrelated to the article itself.
The article is about Aisha Buhari’s two-month absence from Aso Rock, which has been widely reported.
She was said to have travelled to Saudi Arabia in early August 2019 to perform Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. Media reports attributed her absence to infighting at Aso Rock, leading the presidency to deny this.
On her return to Nigeria on 13 October 2019, Aisha Buhari attributed her absence to a combination of taking a scheduled holiday and subsequent medical treatment, the nature of which she did not disclose. Allwell Okpi
That’s the astonishing claim in the headline of an article on the blog SkyPost TV, a claim shared several times on Facebook.
The headline reads: “I left presidential villa because the man in asorock is not my husband, Aisha buhari.” Aso Rock is Nigeria’s White House, the office and residence of the president.
The article was posted on the Facebook group page Biafra My Country, with most of the comments agreeing with the claim.
“We all know d truth dat ur husband died long time ago,” one comment reads.
Old rumour of president’s death
The post builds on an old rumour that Muhammadu Buhari died in London some time in 2017 or 2018, when he repeatedly visited the UK capital for treatment of an undisclosed ailment.
The rumour was that he was then replaced by body double. Buhari debunked it in December 2018, a few months before his re-election in February 2019.
Headline unrelated to article
But the headline is false and unrelated to the article itself.
The article is about Aisha Buhari’s two-month absence from Aso Rock, which has been widely reported.
She was said to have travelled to Saudi Arabia in early August 2019 to perform Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. Media reports attributed her absence to infighting at Aso Rock, leading the presidency to deny this.
On her return to Nigeria on 13 October 2019, Aisha Buhari attributed her absence to a combination of taking a scheduled holiday and subsequent medical treatment, the nature of which she did not disclose. Allwell Okpi
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.
Further Reading
ARISE TV/YOUTUBE
Fact-checking claims by Nigerian presidential hopefuls at the Arise TV town hall
Three presidential election contenders recently outlined their plans if elected in 2023. We took a closer look at some of their claims.
Add new comment