Prebunking Smear Campaigns Ahead of New Election Cycle 

Rafiu Ajakaye 

A few days ago, people tagged me to an anonymous X handle who said that Kwara State budgeted N10.3 billion for new cars in 2026 and only N203 million for school facilities. It added that the state spent N3.7 billion buying new cars and N16 million on school facilities in 2025. 

It is a classic example of disinformation. The agenda of the handle is not clear, but it is hardly noble or in pursuit of public good. 

The claims are false. Last year alone, Kwara State Government paid N3,554,642,584.46 counterpart funding to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC). In turn, the state accessed N7,109,285,168.92 with which it has constructed 92 blocks of two classrooms each; renovated 193 classrooms; built 36 units of four compartment of VIP toilets; installed 36 solar-powered boreholes; fabricated 14,056 units of student furniture; and constructed perimeter fencing across 19 schools, among others. 

Last year, also at basic education level, the administration purchased 640,728 textbooks in core subject areas of Mathematics and English Language valued at N4,895,632,418. These included 12,780 library books, 100 special education materials, 260 ECCDE chairs and tables, 3,931 sports equipment items, and 78 Maga Tab X tablets for digital learning.  

That’s for basic education. The Ministry of Education spent at least N3.8 billion on construction of new classrooms, provision of chairs, tables, and laboratory equipment, and rehabilitation of weak structures in the same year. 

These do not include what was spent on trainings and related activities, including KwaraLEARN, or the recurrent costs. Last year, the government approved 27.5 TSA for teachers, costing government additional N1.3 billion monthly, effective from January 2026. 

The claim about purchase of vehicles is without a context. Government needs to purchase vehicles for different official use. Last year for instance, the government bought new SUVs for judges and senior public servants. The new National Judicial Council (NJC) rule is that no state shall appoint new judges without providing them with vehicles. Even so, the government spent only 29%, or N3.8 billion, of the N13.3 billion budgeted for motor vehicles, vans and buses. 

In the same year, the government budgeted N35.5 billion for school services, purchase of school facilities, construction of public schools, provision of school facilities, and repairs of public school facilities. For 2026, the government has budgeted N35.4 billion for the sector and N13.3 billion for vehicles, clearly contradicting the social media claims. These figures do not amount to overall budget for the Ministry of Education, especially the recurrent expenditure. 

The fact-free social media comments were made to portray the government as irresponsible and instigate the public against it. In an age where many people have opinions without doing what is required to hold them, it is common to see such tweets generating thousands of shares. 

A lady went the same route last week. She did a video repeating the same false claims. That it garnered many instagram likes and shares tells a sad story about this age. No question, no interrogation, no attempt to fact-check claims. 

Then on Sunday, February 22, a Facebooker notorious for smear campaigns said he was going to expose the Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq. The pattern to constantly harass and assault the state without consequence is clear.

Intended for trends, make personal gains, or help their political patrons, such social media posts will escalate this year as a new election cycle begins across Nigeria. They are mostly targeted campaign of calumny heavily financed by political opponents or antics of lone social media wolfs who tweet the most bizarre things to get validation. 

Don’t forget: attention is a battlefield in today’s media landscape. In this age, curiosity is a superpower, and tweeting the most bizarre things about public figures or government officials gets instant attention, the very objective and life-wire of several social media creators. 

Behaviours like this are not limited to Nigeria. They are a global issue, as a speaker said at the last convention of the International Press Institute in Vienna. The challenge before governments include whether to embrace firm but reasonable regulatory reforms that target offenders directly or apply the ‘polluter pays principle’ to platforms which amplify unverified claims, among others. 

Those who intentionally spread misinformation or disinformation take advantage of the decreasing public appetite to fact-check claims before liking, sharing, or forming opinions. This is no thanks to the dopamine culture, which assails all of us. However, we need to understand that fake news is an existential threat to democracy, our right to correct information, and our right to life. 

As researcher Scott Ruston said: “In many ways, the fundamental underpinnings of democratic society are at risk because they depend so much on willing, informed citizen participation and expression of political will. If the basis of those decisions made by citizens is corrupted by disinformation, then that is a hijacking of the democratic society.”  

How do you judge a government that a social media handle asserted spent a paltry N16 million on education facilities and N3.7 billion on buying new cars? Of course, you adjudge it poorly and possibly withdraw your support for it. That is the agenda. Yet, it is all lies. But there is more to it. Innocent lives could be lost when someone dishes out outright falsehoods because they want to get a million shares and likes, the new gold of the social media age. 

More fabrications will come from bad faith actors and hired hands in the coming months. It is our duty to be wary of claims made by persons with doubtable antecedents and those with probable intention to mislead the public for political gains.

︎ Mr. Ajakaye is Chief Press Secretary to the Kwara State governor