Man Caught Buying Votes During Election Not Bauchi Commissioner – PRNigeria Fact-Check
By Idris Umar Feta and Khadijah Ahmad Ado,
The man allegedly caught buying votes from some electorate in Bauchi State during the March 18 Governorship and State House of Assembly elections is not Hon. Adamu Manu Soro, the Commissioner of Youths and Sports in Bauchi, a fact-check done by PRNigeria has revealed.
The fact-check, in fact, said that the man is not an indigene of Bauchi, but rather Adamawa State.
He was also not sharing the cash allegedly to buy votes during the gubernatorial election of the Bauchi State, but during a campaign visit of the Adamawa Governor’s wife to a community in the State, some days earlier.
Penultimate Saturday, a video which went viral on social media platforms claimed that the Bauchi State Commissioner of Youths and Support, Hon Adamu Manu Soro, was sharing money to the electorate at his ward to vote for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). https://prnigeria.com/2023/03/27/bauchi-commissioner-buying/
But following an open source investigation, PRNigeria discovered that the claim originated from a Twitter handle Babangida Buharist and retweeted by several other handles including Onitsha Metro.
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The Twitter source was however relied upon by a reporter of a reputable national daily who filed in the report which was eventually published by the platform and shared on its social media.
However, PRNigeria obtained an official portrait of the said commissioner, Hon Adamu Manu Sauro and compared it against the man in the viral video. There are differences between the two images. The Bauchi commissioner of youth and sports appeared more plum and fair than the man in the viral video.
PRNigeria‘s fact check desk therefore broke the video into jpeg frames and zoomed in on the police officers where one of them was identified with his name tag conspicuously written “Bulus Khaziga.”
PRNigeria then investigated and confirmed that Bulus Khaziga was a sergeant of the Nigeria Police attached to the Girei Division in Adamawa State.
The second Police was identified as Sergeant Renos Konarwan attached to Government House Yola while the man sharing the money was identified as an elected legislator.
Further investigation revealed that the video actually emerged on 3rd March 2023 at Girei Government Lodge of Adamawa State and not on an election day as purported.
The incident reportedly took place when a wife of the state Governor, Lami Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, visited the area.
PRNigeria, therefore concluded that the claim that the Bauchi State Commissioner of Youths and Support, Hon Adamu Manu Soro, was sharing money to the electorate at his ward to vote for the PDP is FALSE and MISLEADING.
