BACKGROUND A Facebook user, Don Raymond Ozi-Isah, made a post on the 23rd of September 2023, where he claimed that the gubernatorial candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the off cycle 2023 governorship election of November 11, 2023 in Kogi, Muritala Yakubu Ajaka, published a book titled “Egbira is Our Common Enemy”.
BACKGROUND
A Facebook user, Don Raymond Ozi-Isah, made a post on the 23rd of September 2023, where he claimed that the gubernatorial candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the off cycle 2023 governorship election of November 11, 2023 in Kogi, Muritala Yakubu Ajaka, published a book titled “Egbira is Our Common Enemy”.
The claim reads: “I hope the right thinkers in Ebiraland and Kogi State saw this book written by Muri Ajaka before you decide to vote for him. Let November 11th come first. The same statement that his brother Musa wada made against that made him to fail is this same statement.
“In any way when you think superior than other because you are not God, you will fail woefully.
“Muri you have fail (sic) with your party. You can only win your vote, not the votes of Kogites.”
A screenshot of the Facebook post
Don Raymond Ozi-Isah in the post, also subtly advised the electorate to consider the content of the book before they make their choices at the polls.
“I hope the right thinkers in Ebiraland and Kogi State saw this book written by Muri Ajaka before you decide to vote for him,” he wrote.
The Facebook post insinuated that the SDP candidate was stirring an ethnic tension ahead of the off-cycle governorship election in Kogi state on 11th of November, 2023.
Ebira is one of the three major ethnic groups in Kogi state with 4 local governments namely; Adavi, Ajaokuta, Okehi, Okene, and Ogori-Magongo. It is in the Central Senatorial District of the state.
The SDP gubernatorial candidate, Muritala Ajaka is from the Igala ethnic group of Kogi state.
This prompted iVerify to subject the claim to a verification process and examine the veracity of the alleged front cover of the book attached to the post.
VERIFICATION
Checks by iVerify show that the claim that the SDP Governorship candidate published a book titled “Egbira people is our common enemy” is FALSE.
Speaking with iVerify via phone call, the Director of New Media, MuriSam Campaign Council, Isaiah Davies Ijele Nuri, said that his principal didn’t publish the alleged book.
“I am the Director General of New Media, MuriSam Campaign Council. There’s nothing like that. The only book we have is our manifesto. I’ll send it to you and you’ll see everything in our manifesto. The only publication that has come from my principal so far is our manifesto, and that’s his first publication ever,” Ijele said.
iVerify subjected the attached front cover of the book to a Google reverse image search and discovered that the cover page does not exist anywhere else, apart from the Facebook post.
Additionally, iVerify discovered that Muri Ajaka ‘s photo, which was used on the cover page of the alleged book, was from his recent campaign pictures available on the internet.
CONCLUSION
The claim that the Governorship Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Muritala Yakubu Ajaka published a book titled “Egbira is our common enemy” is FALSE.
Leave a Comment
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *