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Digital and hard copies of a political party poster endorsing Wiebe Boer, the CEO of an energy firm who was born in Nigeria to Dutch parents, purport to be proof of his intention to run for governor of Plateau state in the country’s central region. However, this is false: the poster is a hoax. Not only is the party supposedly backing Boer non-existent, but the country’s laws on citizenship preclude him from running for governor. Social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle revealed one of the earliest versions of the purported campaign poster was published on Facebook on May 7, 2022. It features an image of Boer, who is also known as Yohanna Maigona in Nigeria, and asks people to vote for him as governor of Plateau state under the All for All Peoples Party. Screenshot taken on May 13, 2022, showing the false Facebook post Two days later, Nigerian news website Sahara Reporters published a report with the headline: Dutch Nigerian Declares Interest To Contest Plateau Governorship Election. The report, which was distributed on Facebook and Twitter , claimed Boer has dual Nigerian and Dutch nationalities. Nigeria holds elections next year to determine President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor, lawmakers and governors for the majority of the country’s 36 states, including Plateau, where Boer, who is white, was born and grew up. Boer’s image used in the political poster appears to have been taken from the website of energy firm All On, where he is CEO. Screenshot of Boer’s image on All On’s website The All for All Peoples Party is not among the 18 registered political parties on the Independent National Electoral Commission’s website. In fact, keyword searches revealed there is no Nigerian political party bearing this name. Only citizens allowed Even though Boer was born in Plateau’s capital Jos, he is not a Nigerian citizen and so cannot contest elections. He also denied any political ambitions. I am categorically stating that I have no intention of running for political office in Nigeria, and I am not eligible to do so, Boer said in a LinkedIn post on May 9, 2022. The only truth to the insinuation is that I was born in Jos and raised in Taraba and Plateau States to Dutch missionary parents and have spent the last 12 years living in Lagos and serving Nigeria and Nigerians in various capacities. I have always been a staunch believer in the potential of Nigeria and will continue to support the country’s development from the sidelines. When contacted by AFP Fact Check, Boer – who is also the President of Calvin University – explained further. I’m not a Nigerian citizen, Boer said on May 11, 2022. Nigeria does not give citizenship by birth and when I attempted to go the naturalization route I was denied. To be elected governor, an individual must be a citizen by birth according to Nigerian laws . This can happen in three ways: if a person was born in Nigeria before independence in October 1960 and either of their parents or grandparents belonged to a community indigenous to the country; if they were born in the country after independence and had at least one parent or grandparent who was a Nigerian citizen; or if they were born outside Nigeria to at least one parent who had citizenship. Screenshot of the Nigerian constitution on citizenship In Boer’s case, he was born in Nigeria after independence, but none of his parents or grandparents were Nigerian citizens, making him ineligible.
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