FACT CHECK: Is it true Jonathan Warned Tinubu against influencing tribunal judgement?

A Facebook blog page has shared a 4-minute-45-second video with the claim that the former President Goodluck Jonathan warned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to use his power to influence the outcome of the Presidential Election Petitions Court.

The author of the post captioned it, “BREAKING!! Former President Goodluck Jonathan don scatter everywhere as he warns Tinubu against using his position as president to influence election tribunal judges, says the young are watching.”

There was hardly a doubt expressed in the comment section as the video has attracted 479,000 views, 12,000 likes, over 5,000 shares and 1,300 comments.

Verification

To verify the authenticity of the video, fact-checkers at Daily Trust watched and found there was no mention of Tinubu in the speech.

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However, it was clear the former president condemned his fellow politicians and security workers against using their positions to limit the judiciary from their independence.

Further search on the logo on the video revealed that the Facebook user must have manipulated a TikTok video posted a week ago by an account “BM Motion” and the caption there reads “Goodluck Jonathan advice to the politicians.”

A key frame-by-frame search also showed that the speech was first delivered in January 2023 at an event and the former President addressed his speech to politicians and not a particular person.

Subsequently, the Facebook user manipulated the original video by layering motion graphics and a voiceover to push a narrative and disinform the audience.

Verdict: False

Conclusion

Based on available information, Daily Trust can confirm that the claim that Jonathan warned President Tinubu about influencing the presidential election tribunal’s outcome is false. The video used to convey the message is old and manipulated.

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