Nigeria: Senatorial Hopeful Ezekiel Dalhatu's Biological Father Died in 2020 - He Is Not Senator Philip Aduda's Son

2 April 2026
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Precious Ewuji

Senatorial hopeful Ezekiel Dalhatu's biological father died in 2020 - he is not senator Philip Aduda's son

IN SHORT: Social media posts falsely claim senator Philip Aduda and Ezekiel Dalhatu, who are contesting the same senate seat in Abuja, are father and son. But this is not true.

A collage of Nigerian senator Philip Aduda and Ezekiel Dalhatu is circulating on social media, with claims that Aduda is Dalhatu's father and that both are contesting the same senate seat in Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

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One of the posts reads: "Father and son contesting for same Senate seat in the FCT. Son refused to use his father's name. Is this not laughable?"

According to the viral image, Aduda is running on the All Progressives Party (APC) ticket, while Dalhatu is under the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Aduda served in the Nigerian senate from 2011 to 2023 and was minority leader of the ninth senate. In March 2026, he left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and joined the APC.

Dalhatu, former commissioner of the FCT Public Complaints Commission and a prominent PDP chieftain resigned from the party in March and joined the ADC.

But are Aduda and Dalhatu related, and are they running for the same senatorial seat? We checked.

False claim

Africa Check searched online for evidence that Aduda is Dalhatu's father but found none.

Instead, multiple social media posts appeared to confirm that Dalhatu's biological father died and was buried in 2020. The posts can be found here, here, and here.

In one of the videos posted online at the time, Dalhatu is seen thanking those who sent their condolences over his father's death and burial ceremony.

Also, there is no evidence that Philip and Dalhatu are contesting the same senate seat.

Some youth groups in Abuja have publicly pledged their support for Dalhatu and have urged him to run, but no formal candidacy has been declared.

Ireti Kingibe won the FCT senate seat in 2023, defeating the long-term incumbent, Aduda. There is currently no official confirmation on whether Aduda plans to run in the next election cycle.

The claim that Aduda is Dalhatu's father is false. Dalhatu's biological father died in 2020, and there is no evidence that both are running for the same senate seat.

More examples of this claim can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. X @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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