FACT CHECK: Did INEC chairman work under Wike as TETFUND Secretary?

By Aishah Saleeman

A viral tweet claims that the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, worked under Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State as Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) secretary.

The Twitter user, @IkukuomaC, tweeted this on Saturday with the caption ‘He worked Under Wike as Tefund secretary…’ together with the INEC chairman’s picture.

The poster insinuated that there exists some intimate relationship between Wike and Yakubu and that the latter compromised the electoral process in Rivers State in favour of the governor.

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Verdict: False

Verification

In verifying this claim, our correspondent checked TETFUND website and found that the Executive Secretary as at the time Governor Nyesom Wike was Minister of State for Education was Prof Suleiman Elias Bogoro.

Recall that former President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Wike as Minister of State for Education during his tenure.

During the period, Wike appointed Prof Bogoro as the Executive Secretary of TETFUND. He was the executive secretary from April 2014 to February 2016

Conclusion

The current INEC chairman was not the executive secretary of TETFUND at the time Wike was Minister of State for Education; hence the claim is false.