Doctored document, online influencers used to amplify claim Zamfara governor has $5bn
By Faruk Shuaibu
Claim: A document has been shared on X, formerly Twitter, to claim that the Zmfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, declared over $5bn in three First Bank accounts while filing his declaration of asset form with the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).
Verdict: This claim is False. While it could not be confirmed if the document is the actual one submitted by the governor, analysis of the form showed the document has been doctored to add five zeros in what appeared to be $5 million that was written on the document. Also, the bank accounts on the document do not belong to the governor.
One of the many accounts that the disinformation on X (Source: X)
Full Text
An image purported to be the asset declaration form of the Zmafara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, has been shared by multiple accounts on X.
The two-page form, which is in black and white format, contained what looks like a passport photograph and other personal details of the governor with some bank account details attached claiming to belong to the governor.
The faded form showed that the governor declared three First Bank account’s containing $29,120, $100.00 and $5,000,000,000.00.
The form stated that the governor disclosed he earned the money in the accounts from his personal income and business proceeds.
The forms which were claimed to be leaked were used by the X accounts to call for the probe into the source of wealth of the governor.
Background
Since the former governor of Zamfara State and minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawallle lost his gubernatorial re-election bid in the March 2023 elections, there has been power tussle between him and his successor, Dauda Lawal, as residents of the state are being exposed to how the former allegedly pilfered the coffers of the state.
Already suffering from daily wanton raids by Fulani herders, also called bandits, that have held the peace and security of the state at ransom, the allegation of malfeasance by the previous government, therefore, adds to the woes of the populace.
Matawalle had been under the radar of nigeria’s anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a few months before the election and when the new governor took over the helms of the state, he accused the former governor of going along with 40 officials which were later recovered.
Unproven N9 trillion assets
Before then, information made the rounds on cyberspace, on May 31, that the just inaugurated Lawal had declared assets and cash worth N9 trillion with the CCB.
The propagators labeled the information as a rumour and linked his profuse wealth to the corruption trail of disgraced former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Consequently, they also sought for investigations on the source of his as the huge amount made him a few billions behind the richest man in Africa whose net worth is estimated to be $13bn.
But the rumour did not stop the governor from addressing the issue which he labeled an act “perpetrated by mischief makers, those who want to drag my name in the mud” in an interview.
From the foregoing, the governor’s alleged $5bn tucked in a bank account would be the second time his finances would be thrown to the public for debate.
But this time around, the allegation was supported with a document to give credence to the information.
How the $5bn disinformation was spread
A google search showed that an anti-corruption group, the Advocate for Social Justice (ASJ) made a call for the governor to be probed by the CCB on the source of his wealth during a press conference on 0ctober 31.
They claimed the governor declared over $5 billion that included cash deposit in banks of “$5,013,357,125.13, N1,522,865,024.00 and £841,704.77 deposited in numerous personal accounts in GT Bank, First Bank & Taj Bank while his Credent Advisory Limited corporate account has a fixed income of N200 million.”
The call for a probe follows the same pattern of the N9 trillion assets declaration.
The group gave the governor one week ultimatum to offer explanation on his wealth or mobilise citizens to stage protest – an activity that is yet to be done since the time of writing this report.
Subsequently, the mention of the matter appeared on X on November 4 but without the document.
But the skepticism on the information made its posters to tweet the information accompanied with the form the next day.
An X user who initially posted the information and, probably, faced backlash had to caption the new tweet with the words: “FOR THOSE ASKING FOR PROOFS. These are CCB certified documents revealing that Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, submitted filings to the Code of Conduct Bureau, stating he possesses billions of dollars in cash.
Along with the images of the form also included a screenshot of a website writing an article on the document with the headline ‘Revealed: CCB documents show Zamfara State Governor, Lawal, declared cash asset of over $5bn.’
This account posted the form after the first encountered skepticism(Source: X)
It was also observed that some X accounts post the information using the forms and include links to the website.
Thereafter, a graphic design was created with the governor’s portrait and a quote attached to describe the amount of money the governor allegedly declared to the CCB.
The money quoted was the same as that mentioned by Advocate for Social Justice (ASJ) but was attributed to an unknown source ‘Anti-Corruption Watch in Africa’.
A check on Google search engine did not yield any result to identify the source.
However, the article placed on the websites contained the name.
Different accounts shared the disinformation in what appeared to be coordinated form (Source: X)
Verification
To verify the authenticity of the document, it was subjected to an analysis through an online image verification tool, forensically. The result showed that the image containing the $5bn was doctored.
The analysis showed that additional zeros were made to make what was written as $5m to $5bn as the last five zeros were darker than the remaining figure.
Analysis on Forensically indicated the document was doctored
It was also observed that while three accounts were mentioned on the form only two had their account number stated.
A check on the two account numbers disclosed that they do not belong to the governors nor are First Bank accounts.
Verification of the account numbers showed they both belong to United Bank for Africa (UBA).
This was done by attempting to send funds to the accounts through a bank application. When this reporter selected First Bank as the beneficiary bank, a prompt surfaced stating, “Account could not be verified.”
Further analysis showed that the first account number, 1000444115, belongs to Methodist Church while the second, 1000806508, came out with the name, Atiku Dada Atiku.
A screenshot indicating the two accounts on the form do not belong to the governor
While efforts were made to reach out to the spokesperson of the CCB, Victoria Kato, it did not yield a result as she did not respond to phone calls and text messages put through her phone.
When the Spokesperson for the Zamfara State Government, Sulaiman Bala Idris, was contacted, he said the information was false and is similar to the N9 trillion disinformation.
He thereafter sent the response of the governor while addressing the latter which stressed that the disinformation was orchestrated by “mischief makers bent on distracting the governor.”
He said the online campaign was perpetuated by those who lost the election as “they had done during their dirty campaign.”
But when asked if the copy submitted to the CCB could be accessed by this reporter, he said it is impossible as the document is confidential and resides with the CBB.
Accounts behind sharing the disinformation
Analysis of the accounts sharing the information showed there were mostly accounts propagating activities of the All progressive Congress (APC), the party the former governor belongs to.
Similarly, owners of the accounts also expressed their membership to APC on their bio description, stating they are social media influencers on the platform.
It was observed that they only mentioned the information during the campaign which was between November 4 to 9.
Also, an account belonging to Personal Assistant (Media)
to Matawale, who is the current Minister of state for Defence, Ahmad Dan Wudil, tweeted the information.
He tweeted that the documents indicated that the declared $5bn by the governor made his net worth above” Mike Adenuga, Chief Femi Otedola and chief Tony Elumelu that have well established businesses across the country. This sounds unbelievable.”
Meanwhile, a google search of the headline on the article written on the disinformation campaign showed it was on some unknown news websites.
But the article appeared to be sponsored as there was an element of copy-and-paste as the headline and the content are the same.
But the one published on MiekieBrowkie, seems elaborate, suggesting it first emerged on it.
Information on the website was sought through Whiois and it showed the website was created in April this year.
Other data on the website showed it was created by Adelaja Rilwan and his contact was obtained from it.
When the reporter called him to ask for the amount to place a story on the website, he said he is not the one in charge of the site as he only created it.
The byline of the story showed it was written by Michael Akanji and searching for the name on X churned out an account with the name.
The information on the profile showed it is the same person as the website was visible of the account.
The account, which is currently suspended by X, also showed he is an APC member as it was stated on the profile.
A check on the profile before it was suspended showed the owner of the account tweeted on the disinformation, it liked more than tweets on the topic a well as retweeted some of the tweets.
A screengrab of the profile of Michael Akanbi on X.
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