Claim: A Twitter user says Ghanaian actor and politician John Dumelo has described the newly sworn-in President of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a “drug dealer.”
Verdict: False. The Ghanaian actor has told JUSTFACT GHANA that the claim is “clearly fake” and that he never used those words to describe the Nigerian President. Also, searches on Mr Dumelo’s social media handles showed that on May 21, 2023, the day he purportedly made the claim, he shared two posts, but they had nothing to do with the Nigerian President.
Investigations:
The first point of call was to visit the social media handles of the Ghanaian actor and politician, John Dumelo, to see if he shared the purported post there, but found nothing there.
Data available on Mr Dumelo’s social media handles, particularly Facebook and Twitter showed that on May 21, 2023, the day he made the claim, he shared two posts that had nothing to do with the Nigerian President. See here, here, and here.
The purported claim was not found anywhere on his social media handles.
Given the Ghanaian actor’s prominence and the claim’s controversial nature, online and mainstream media platforms would have spotted the post and published it. However, a search by JUSTFACT GHANA online showed no credible media house in Ghana and Nigeria has published the purported claim.
JUSTFACT GHANA later contacted the Ghanaian actor and politician, John Dumelo, on June 5, 2023, to find out if he ever uttered those words anywhere despite the absence of the purported claim online.
“Oh no. [I] never said that,” Mr Dumelo said.
Mr Dumelo described the claim as “clearly fake” and said he never used those words to describe the Nigerian President.
“[I] don’t know where that’s from…[but it is] clearly fake,” the aspiring Parliamentary candidate of Ghana’s opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency told JUSTFACT GHANA.
JUSTFACT GHANA then contacted the claim originator to indicate her post source, but the Twitter user has not responded to the request since.
However, some readers who commented on the post advised others to disregard it because “it is fake.” See here, here, and here.
Conclusion
The claim that Ghanaian actor and politician John Dumelo has described the newly sworn-in President of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a “drug dealer” is false.
Mr Dumelo has told JUSTFACT GHANA he never uttered the words attributed to him.
