FALSE CLAIM

Full Text

A video showing Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo in company with some of his aides buying pop corn amidst laughter and cheers from onlookers is trending.

A section of Nigerians have noted that the vice president pulled the stunt in reaction to comments credited to Senator Kashim Shettima, the coordinator of the campaign team of former Lagos State Governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ahead of the All Progressives Congress presidential primary scheduled to hold in Abuja.

Shettima had while appearing on a Channels Television programe, Politics Today, said Tinubu is the best person for the plum job.

When he was asked about Osinbajo’s chances of clinching the APC presidential ticket, he answered, “the VP? Osinbajo is a good man, he is a nice man, but nice men don’t make good leaders, recognized men tend to be nasty.

“Nice men should be selling pop corn, ice cream and bologna but he is a very decent person and I can’t doubt that and he’s my personal friend and I would rather not comment on his person but he’s a decent man. That I can tell you.”

Verification

Checks by Daily Trust revealed that the video is an old one being re-circulated. The video was shot at Genesis cinema in 2018.

At about 8:43 pm on the 21st of December, 2018, Prof. Osinbajo had tweeted that he was at Genesis Cinema where he wanted to watch Nollywood’s most recent highest grossing movie, Chief Daddy, with youths that evening.

In the tweet (accompanied with the video) made via his verified Twitter handle, @ProfOsinbajo, the vice president could be seen sharing jokes and popcorn with excited youths.

Conclusion

Relying on the content of the VP’s tweet back in 2018, Daily Trust can authoritatively confirm that the viral video in circulation and the accompanying narrative is a deliberate attempt to mislead the general public.

The video is not a new one and should be disregarded.