Nigeria: Beware Twitter Accounts Impersonating Nigeria's Labour Party Vice Presidential Candidate

27 February 2023
Africa Check (Johannesburg)

It's been two days since Nigeria's 2023 presidential election, and the disinformation keeps coming. .

It's been two days since Nigeria's 2023 presidential election, and the disinformation keeps coming. This time, it's from fake Twitter accounts that use the name of Datti Baba-Ahmed, the running mate of the Labour Party's Peter Obi.

The Nigerian Fact-checkers' Coalition has raised an alarm about Twitter accounts using the name of Datti Baba-Ahmed.

Baba-Ahmed is a former senator and was the Labour Party's vice presidential candidate in Nigeria's 2023 presidential election. He ran alongside Peter Obi, the party's presidential candidate.

The coalition said it had uncovered over 30 Twitter accounts impersonating Baba-Ahmed. Africa Check is a member of the coalition.

'Disregard such Twitter accounts'

"Some of these accounts have been tweeting sensitive controversial political statements," the coalition said in a statement.

"The NFC is calling on the public to disregard such Twitter accounts. Kindly note that Sen. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed's real Twitter account is @dattibabaahmed."

In August, Baba-Ahmed addressed a press conference to complain about fake social media accounts. He also issued a disclaimer on Twitter, debunking these accounts.

Africa Check has previously identified fake social media accounts as one of the disinformation trends to watch out for during the election season.

 

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Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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