Nigeria: No, Kogi Governor Bello Didn't Tell Nigerian President Tinubu to Not Interfere in State Elections. Ignore Fake Tweet

15 August 2023
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Mary Alexander

IN SHORT: Kogi governor Yahaya Bello lost to current president Bola Tinubu in the All Progressives Congress primaries. But he didn't tweet that he can't forgive Tinubu, telling the president to stay out of his state's governorship election.

Has Yahaya Bello, governor of Nigeria's Kogi state, told president Bola Tinubu not to meddle in the state's upcoming election?

So it would seem from a screenshot of a tweet circulating on Facebook since early July 2023.

"Tinubu has no say in kogi election come November 2023, i can't forget what he did to me during the Presidential primaries," the poorly written tweet reads.

"I am in charge of my State and will not allow anyone intrude in my affairs."

The tweet appears to have been posted on @OfficialGYBKogi, Bello's verified account on Twitter (the social media platform rebranded as X in July 2023). It includes a photo of Bello.

Kogi is set to hold governorship elections on 11 November. Bello has headed the north-central state for two four-year terms and is not up for re-election.

Tinubu was elected Nigeria's president in February and inaugurated in May. But there have been legal challenges to his election.

Both Tinubu and Bello are members of the governing All Progressives Congress, or APC. In 2022, Bello ran for nomination in the party's presidential primary, but lost to Tinubu.

In January 2023, Bello denied rumours that he had stopped supporting Tinubu in favour of Atiku Abubakar, the rival People's Democratic Party presidential candidate.

But has Bello tweeted that he "can't forget what Tinubu did" to him during the APC presidential primaries, and warned the president to stay out of Kogi state's governorship election?

'Photoshopped by mischief makers'

Africa Check searched for the tweet on Bello's verified Twitter account, but could not find it.

What we did find is that the accounts' tweets are reasonably well written, without grammatical errors - unlike the tweet in the screenshot.

There have been no credible media reports of Bello saying this to Tinubu.

On 5 July, Bello dismissed the screenshot as fake in a tweet that showed it crossed out by two red lines with the words "FAKE NEWS!!!"

Fake News alert !!️ 🚨

Photoshopped by Mischief makers.

Please beware.

God bless President @officialABAT

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. pic.twitter.com/1eEAh4RJKc

-- Alhaji Dr. Yahaya Bello, CON (@OfficialGYBKogi) July 5, 2023

"Fake News alert! Photoshopped by Mischief makers. Please beware. God bless President @officialABAT. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria," the tweet reads.

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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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