Again as in many false claims made by the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, a recent facebook post showing a large crowd of people at a political rally attributed to APC officials depicting a picture of a rally at a pro-Tinubu rally in Sokoto state has been found to be false and misleading.
The picture, contrary to claims by the APC officials, was actually taken in 2019 when Buhari was chasing his second term as a candidate for the All Progressive Congress.
The post which has been shared severally includes three copies of the same image showing a large crowd purportedly gathering for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is vying to succeed Muhammedu Buhari in the forthcoming general elections in February next year.
“Governor Wammako Begins Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s Campaign From The Grassroots In Sokoto State (sic),” reads a post shared on August 8, 2022.
The Facebook account, which published the post, has a history of sharing content highlighting projects in states governed by the APC.
Other accounts shared similar photos and captions (here and here) praising Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko for mobilising the large crowd for Tinubu.
Wamakko, misspelt as Wammako in the post, was the governor of Sokoto state between 2007 and 2015 as the candidate of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party. He defected to the then opposition APC in 2013 before the end of his second term. and was elected senator two years later.
But the claim that Wamakko mobilised a crowd for Tinubu is misleading.
According to AFP Fact Check which conducted a reverse image search they found the photo was tweeted by APC youth leader Dada Olusegun on January 23, 2019.
Olusegun explained it showed party members waiting for Buhari’s arrival at a rally held in Sokoto.