A message posted on Facebook in Nigeria claims that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating whether Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari has died and has been replaced by a lookalike.
The July 2022 message includes a screenshot of what seems to be a social media post by Al Jazeera, a state-owned Qatari media platform.
“Reliable source from Nigeria has it that a group of millionaires has secretly contacted the US FBI to investigate if the sitting president of Nigeria, Mr Buhari is a replica,” the screenshot reads.
“Reports of Buhari's replacement by a look-alike have gained so much interest around Nigeria that the millionaires decided to take this drastic move to bring the truth to light.”
The screenshot has been posted on other Facebook pages.
But is there any truth to it? We checked.
Old claim resurfaces
The claim that Buhari died and was replaced by a lookalike has been debunked several times.
The supposed Al Jazeera screenshot does not have the blue verification tick. The news outlet’s official social media pages are verified.
And the title on the screenshot, “Al Jazeera West Africa”, is not listed among its subsidiaries on its website.
Africa Check could not find the page “Al Jazeera West Africa” on Facebook.
We therefore rate the claim as false.
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