BY: Oluwaseye Ogunsanya
Claim
X user, @Onsogbu, posted screenshots of two news headlines purportedly published by BusinessDay and Daily Post newspapers, attributing statements to former Head of State Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and former President Goodluck Jonathan, claiming that President Bola Tinubu will be re-elected in 2027.
Verdict
False, the report was fabricated using website designs of BusinessDay and Daily Post newspapers.
Full Text
X user, @Onsogbu, posted screenshots of two news headlines purportedly published by BusinessDay and Daily Post newspapers, attributing statements to former Head of State Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and former President Goodluck Jonathan, claiming that President Bola Tinubu will be re-elected in 2027.
The claimant captioned the post “IBB on 12th of April, GEJ on 15th of April” to give an impression that the President is getting significant support for his re-election. The same reports can also be found separately here, here and here.
Screenshot of the claim by the X user
Screenshot of the claim on BusinessDay
The news comes at a time when the clamour for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu in 2027 is gaining momentum and the news of coalition against his re-election is thickening.
Screenshot of the claim on Daily Post
Verification
To verify this claim, we conducted a Google search to determine whether it had been corroborated by other reputable news platforms. Our findings show that while some news outlets reported that the retired general expressed support for Tinubu’s re-election during an interview with a group of journalists in Minna, Niger State, an extensive search to confirm this through additional credible sources proved abortive. This lack of corroboration means that the report lacks substantial evidence.
Similarly, we came across reports debunking the claim—one from BusinessDay and another from former President Goodluck Jonathan. According to The Sun, the former president dissassociated himself from the alleged endorsement of President Bola Tinubu for re-election in 2027. The report was debunked by Jonathan’s Media Office through his Special Adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, in a message posted on Facebook on Wednesday, describing the claim as fake news fabricated by agents of disinformation.
“The attention of the Media Office of His Excellency Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2010-2015) has been drawn to a piece of false information with the above title, currently spreading on a segment of the social media.
“This is fake news fabricated by agents of disinformation.
“At no point did Dr. Jonathan speak to any journalist on the forthcoming 2027 elections,” the message reads.
In the same vein, BusinessDay newspaper also denied the claim attributed to it. The newspaper’s editor issued a disclaimer, which was published on its website yesterday.
Screenshot of the BusinessDay disclaimer debunking the claim
“BusinessDay categoricaly denies the attribution of the article “Tinubu will be re-elected in 2027 – Ibrahim Babangida” as originating from our publication.
“This article, falsely attributed to our journalist, Chinwe Micheal, is wholly fabricated and is not in any way connected to or endorsed by BusinessDay.
“We condemn the unauthorised use of our brand and personnel in this false narrative and urge Phoenix Media and other perpetrators to cease dissemination immediately.
“We encourage our readers to disregard this misleading article and assure them that BusinessDay remains committed to maintaining the high standard of quality reporting for which we are known.” The disclaimer reads.
Conclusion
Based on our findings, we can conclude that the news reports attributed to both former Head of State Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and former President Goodluck Jonathan, claiming they support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, are false and were fabricated using the website designs of BusinessDay and Daily Post. While the claim about Babangida’s support for Tinubu lacks substantial evidence and corroboration with other credible news outlets, Jonathan has explicitly debunked the claim through his media office.
