Fake news! No tribe was excluded from conditional cash transfer

Claim: Igbos, Should Not Expect Any Money From Us Since Igbos want Biafra – Minister Farouk

Full text:

The report published on Akelicious.net on April 1, 2020, read thus:

But, it seems the publisher took down the report subsequently; we did not find any archived versions either. We, however, did find other sites reportedly quoting the same message. 

Nigeria is a country with diverse ethnic and religious groups. Thus any malicious report for or against any part thereof could breach the peace, unity and progress of the county by triggering war, crisis or disharmony especially in this period of coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 as already known does not fear any individual or nation. This is why fact-checking this claim is necessary. Again, a group, OYC apparently reacting to the report has threatened that the minister should resign or be sacked.

Verification:

It was true that President Muhammadu Buhari led federal government promised to cushion the effect of national lockdown occasioned by COVID-19 through conditional cash transfer, among others. But no renowned traditional or internet-based media house reported that a particular state, tribe or region would benefit while others would not.

However, a release from the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development issued on April 2, which was signed by Salisu Na'inna Dambatta (Special Assistant on Media and Press Affairs to the minister, Sadiya Umar Farouk announced that the transfer would be carried out at Anambra, Federal Capital Territory, Katsina and Nasarrawa states.

Anambra is in the South East (Igbo speaking region), while Katsina and Nasarrawa are in North West and North Central respectively. Some pictures of the event as they were held at the various places are also obtainable on the verified Twitter account of the ministry . Other reports clarifying that the project was carried out at three states and why it was so are on the Ministry’s twitter handle, the Nation and VON and others.

Red Flag: Possible Malicious site

Besides, Akelicious.net news is a suspect because it has neither a byline (name of the author) of the story nor his/her source (s). Also, the report which is full of grammatical errors failed to state the location it was obtained and if it was during an interview, press conference, or whatever. In summary, it lacks all the journalistic ethical codes as published by the Nigerian Press Council.

Nevertheless, we contacted publisher of the report on WhatsApp at 8.55 am on April 3 requesting for an audio or video clip of the minister’s speech but he promised to get back to us but never did as at press time (screenshots attached). The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development was equally contacted @FMHDSD (screenshot attached) but was yet to respond. However, this screenshot on FMHDSD Twitter handle shows that it was aware of the report.