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CLAIM
A circulating broadcast on Whatsapp, claimed that the 2023 Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar is giving out N10,000 to Nigerians as Campaign Funds.
The post reads:-
“ATIKU ABUBAKAR FREE N10,000 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN 2023
More Read
Support ATIKU ABUBAKAR for the PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN and receive N10,000 instant from ATIKU SUPPORT ORGANIZATION (ASO) as part of the CAMPAIGN FUNDS.
This grant is available To all Nigerians who follow the link below to support him.
Apply Here
https://tinyurl.com/Atiku-campaign-2023 “
WHO IS ATIKU ABUBAKAR?
Atiku Abubakar is a Nigerian politician and businessman who served as the Vice President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 during the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo.
Since he entered politics in 1993, Atiku Abubakar has contested five times for the Office of President of Nigeria in 1993, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019 in different political parties respectively of which he did not emerge.
On the 24th of March, 2022, Atiku Abubakar officially announced his intention to run for the 2023 presidential election.
On the 28th of May, 2022, Atiku was elected as the PDP flag bearer in the forthcoming 2023 Nigerian presidential election. He polled 371 votes out of 767 accredited votes at the party’s primary election.
ROUNDCHECK FINDINGS
A click on the link in the post gives a clear insight into the post.
The page reveals a graphic design that entails a clear picture of Atiku Abubakar with the PDP’s logo, a bold text on the image, and an approved symbol.
Just below the graphic, there’s a short note that read:-
” The Presidential Race 2023 campaign.
ATIKU ABUBAKAR FOR PRESIDENT 2023.
ATIKU ABUBAKAR PEOPLE DEMOCRATIC PARTY(PDP) ASPIRANTs
Former Nigeria Vice President for two tenors, is ready to take Nigerians to next level and better country to safe youths from poverty, insecurity and insurgency the youths are going through respectively. Atiku Support Organisation(ASO) has come up with the fund of N10,000 each to Nigerian citizens who support him for President.
GET N10,000 by supporting ATIKU ABUBAKAR ”
After the short note that introduces the website, Nigerians are asked to fill a form below and click on “support”. The form Requested for full name, state and phone Number.
ROUNDCHECK noticed an individual can click on support without filling the form and you will move to the next page Just like the previous hoax publication on Roundcheck.
On the second page of the post, a congratulatory message was indicated.
It reads:-
” Congratulations
You have been selected to benefit from the support fund payment provided by ATIKU SUPPORT ORGANIZATION (ASO) PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN 2023. ”
Just below the congratulatory message, Nigerians were asked to answer the following three questions to benefit immediately.
- Question 1:- Are you a PDP supporter?
- Question 2:- What is your marital status?
- Question 3:- Why do you want this grant?
A successful response to the question above will reveal the final stage with the steps to obtain the withdrawal code from the electronic counter. Here Nigerians are asked to share the post link until a blue bar is full.
The steps state:-
“You may get the support fund with only one step, kindly click the ‘invite friends/group’ button below to share this information with 15 friends or 5 groups on Whatsapp so that they can also benefit.”
With the aid of Google lens, ROUNDCHECK noticed that there is no similar picture on the internet and that indicates the graphic on the open page of the link was created specifically for the website.
we checked Website informer , a website that gives more information about the post website. Further information gathered from website Informer analytics regarding the site, revealed that the link was created on TinyUrl.
What are TinyUrl Links?
TinyURL is a URL shortening web service, which provides short aliases for redirection of long URLs.
Kevin Gilbertson, a web developer, launched the service in January 2002 as a way to post links in newsgroup postings that frequently had long, cumbersome addresses.
TinyURL was the first notable URL shortening service and is one of the oldest still currently operating. There is always an original link behind every TinyUrl link which is the long URLs.
ROUNDCHECK was able to identify the genuineness behind the Tinyurl link by adding + to the post link. (https://tinyurl.com/Atiku-campaign-2023+)
It reads:-
The TinyUrl (Atiku-campaign-2023) you visited was by its creator in violation of our terms of use.
ROUNDCHECK made a thorough check by visiting Atiku Abubakar’s verified Twitter handle, Facebook page, and his authorized website respectively, but couldn’t find anything relating to the Claim.
ROUNDCHECK visited the Atiku Support Organization(ASO) verified social media handles, Twitter, and the organization’s official website, but couldn’t find anything relating to the claim likewise.
On the 31st of May 2022, Atiku Support Organization(ASO) debunked the Claim on their Facebook page. The organization uploaded a disclaimer post signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the Organization, Dr. EI Mo Victor.
CONCLUSION
The message, shared by WhatsApp users that Atiku Abubakar is giving N10,000 to Nigerians as campaign funds, is FALSE-, as research has shown, it is not VALID.
