Some social media posts that claimed German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, recently lauded Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, are not only misleading but also dubious, a fact-check report by CrossCheck Nigeria has shown.
CrossCheck Nigeria, a collaboration of newsrooms in Nigeria which includes Daily Trust, confirms that there is no evidence that Merkel has thrown her support behind Buhari in the coming general elections.
Posts on Twitter and Facebook had claimed that Merkel said “democracy under Buhari is one of the best in the world.”
Checks by CrossCheck Nigeria (CCN) revealed that there is no evidence that Merkel made any public statement of support for the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.
CrossCheck Nigeria searched the web and social media platforms in both English and German for any evidence of Merkel’s alleged support for Buhari in the upcoming race. There was none.
Additionally, there is no evidence that Merkel has thrown her support behind any Nigerian candidate.
The last time Merkel visited Nigeria, in August 2018, her discussion centred on trade and migration.
CCN found the first instance of the misleading claim on a Buhari support page on Facebook titled “ISupportBuhari2019,” and subsequently found the claim was first shared a day earlier – February 3rd – by a Twitter account called @trueNija
As at 5:00 p.m. on February 7, posts of the claim on Facebook, also shared on ‘cupsdemocracyinaction’ page, had garnered over 1,000 shares. On Twitter, the claim had over 1,500 shares and 2,000 likes.
