Back to Africa Check

Video of attack on Nigeria’s NNPP presidential candidate’s supporters? No, it’s just clickbait

A Facebook post links to a video published on a blog with the claim it shows supporters of New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) presidential candidate Rabiu Kwankwaso being attacked by supporters of his rival, Abdullahi Ganduje.

Nigeria held presidential and parliamentary elections on 25 February 2023.

Ganduje is the governor of Kano state in northern Nigeria. He served as Kwankwaso’s deputy when the candidate was the state’s governor. In 2015, he succeeded him as governor of Kano state.  

Kwankwaso declared his intention to contest the position of president on the NNPP ticket in April 2022.

There has been speculation about a rift between the two after Ganduje became governor in 2015. Ganduje has responded to the rumour, saying he had a “very good rapport with the former governor”.

But the relationship between the two still doesn’t seem cordial. In November 2022, Ganduje challenged Kwankwaso to test his popularity in Kano by holding a political rally.

The video’s cover screen shows photos of Ganduje and Kwankwaso, as well as photos of violence and unrest.

Links to the video have also been posted here and here on Facebook.

But does it really show Ganduje’s supporters attacking Kwankwaso’s supporters?

NigeriaVideo_False

Clickbait for ad money

We tapped on the link, and discovered that the blog site has no “about” section or contact details. This raises questions about its authenticity. 

What appeared to be a video embedded on the site did not launch when we tapped the play button. Instead, it redirected us to web pages full of adverts. 

And no credible Nigerian news organisations have reported any fight between the two politicians’ supporters. 

The link is simply clickbait to earn ad revenue.

Republish our content for free

We believe that everyone needs the facts.

You can republish the text of this article free of charge, both online and in print. However, we ask that you pay attention to these simple guidelines. In a nutshell:

1. Do not include images, as in most cases we do not own the copyright.

2. Please do not edit the article.

3. Make sure you credit "Africa Check" in the byline and don't forget to mention that the article was originally published on africacheck.org.

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 guide

Africa 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

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
limit: 600 characters

Want to keep reading our fact-checks?

We will never charge you for verified, reliable information. Help us keep it that way by supporting our work.

Become a newsletter subscriber

Support independent fact-checking in Africa.