FACT-CHECK: Claim That Edo State Governor Says He Is Deliberately “Illiterate” is False!

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image of Monday Okpebholo, a Nigerian politician who is the current Governor of Edo State, Nigeria

BY: Eniola Amadu

Claim:

A user on X, named @WIZEINTHEBEAT claims that the current Governor of Edo State, Monday Okpebholo says that he behaves as an “illiterate” deliberately.

Verdict:

False. There is no news report or substantive evidence confirming such a statement came from the sitting Edo state Governor.

Full Text:

@WIZEINTHEBEAT, a user on X has alleged that the current Governor of Edo State, Monday Okpebholo reveals that his act of “illiteracy” is deliberate. The purported claim further alleged that the Governor said the act of being “illiterate” is how best the people of Edo can understand him better.

The full text of the caption reads:

“BREAKING‼️many people think I’m stupid, but I do all I do on purpose. When you see me acting like an illiterate, I’m just being down to earth. That’s the way Edo people will understand me better..

—Gov.Monday Okpebholo”

Screenshot of the post on X

Similar claim was also found on Facebook here, here, and here

Verification:

To verify the validity of the claim, FactCheckAfrica reviewed the media pages of the Governor including X, Facebook to establish if he made such a statement, and found no evidence of such.

Also, FactCheckAfrica went through available reports by the Edo State Broadcasting Service (EBS) website, and other credible media outlets and discovered there was no report to confirm the Governor made such a comment.

Conclusion:
Based on the available evidence, there is no credible evidence to substantiate the claim that Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, made the alleged statement. A review of his official media platforms, the Edo State Broadcasting Service, and reports from credible media outlets found no record of such a comment.