IN SHORT: There is no evidence that a woman smoking a water pipe in a photo circulated on social media is Islamiyat Oyefusi, a Labour Party candidate for deputy governor. And she has denied it vehemently.
A graphic circulating on Facebook in Nigeria shows a photo of a woman smoking shisha alongside a campaign flyer for Islamiyat Oyefusi of the Labour Party (LP), the deputy governor candidate for Lagos state.
Shisha is a tobacco product, heated and smoked through a hookah or water pipe.
The graphic is posted with the claim that the woman smoking is Oyefusi.
Oyefusi is the running mate of Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour in the 18 March 2023 election for governor in Lagos state.
Rhodes-Vivour is a strong contender in the election. The LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi, won the most votes in the state in the 25 February presidential election.
The same claim has also been posted on Facebook here, here and here.
But is the woman in the photo Oyefusi?
‘This is not me’ says Oyefusi
The photo was shared on Twitter on 13 March with the same claim – that it showed the “Deputy Governorship Candidate of a certain Political Party in Lagos State”.
Oyefusi tweeted in reaction: “This is not me, so I will never stoop low to your gutters or dignify you with a reply.”
A reverse image search did not reveal the origin of the photo, but we found no reports from credible sources linking it to Oyefusi. The woman in the photo does not particularly look like her.
This is another misleading post which could potentially influence voters ahead of the governorship and state house of assembly elections in Nigeria on 18 March.
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