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Footage of a man taking stacks of dollar bills out of a suitcase has been shared on social media in Nigeria with claims that it shows members of the country’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) preparing cash ahead of a primary election. However, the claim is false: the video clip has been circulating online for more than three years and first emerged in Sudan. The video started circulating online on May 30, 2022, after the APC started screening individuals hoping to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari under the ruling party’s banner. The screening exercise preceded a national convention scheduled for June 6, 2022, during which an in-house primary election will determine the party’s candidate for next year’s presidential poll. APC getting ready for convention, reads a tweet that features the silent footage. It's gonna be dollar rain ( sic ). Screenshot showing the false tweet, taken on May 31, 2022 More than 70,000 people have seen the 27-second clip on the social network. It was also shared on Facebook by accounts promoting the activities of the Biafran and Yoruba Nation separatist groups. Popular Nigerian entertainer Tunde Ednut, who has nearly four million followers on Instagram, also shared the footage on the social network alongside a similar claim. Nigeria holds elections next year to determine Buhari’s successor, as well as lawmakers and governors for the majority of the country’s 36 states. Some Nigerians, including former president Goodluck Jonathan , have accused political aspirants of offering money to delegates in a bid to influence the outcomes of primary elections. However, the video showing piles of cash being taken out of a suitcase is unrelated to elections in Nigeria. Old video from Sudan Nine seconds into the video, the words Central Bank of Sudan are visible on a white note placed on one of the bundles of cash. Screenshot showing the Central Bank of Sudan note Using the InVID-WeVerify tool, AFP Fact Check ran several reverse image searches on keyframes from the video. This helped us trace the footage back to an earlier version of the video published on YouTube more than three years ago, on April 17, 2019. The video’s caption, in Swahili, reads: See the money that ousted [Sudanese] president Omar Bashir was caught with. Unlike the version currently circulating in Nigeria, this video included sound. A woman’s voice can be heard. The sound is not very clear, but AFP journalists in Sudan were able to confirm that the voice was speaking in Arabic and saying something about documenting. Arabic is the dominant language of Sudan. On April 20, 2019, three days after this video was first published on YouTube, Sudan-based news outlet Sudan In The News published a shorter version of the video, also alleging that it showed cash found at the residence of Sudan’s former leader Omar al-Bashir. 1. SUDAN POLITICAL ALERT: FORMER Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir is reportedly being investigated for money laundering, following a Sudanese military intelligence search of his home and suitcases. #SudanUprising #اعتصام_القيادة_العامة #تسقط_بس️ More details below: pic.twitter.com/XlkgOJBm8l — Sudan In The News (@SudanInTheNews) April 20, 2019 AFP reported on the cash seizure in April 2019. Sudan’s security forces found more than 113 million dollars worth of cash in three currencies during a search at the former Sudanese leader’s home. Bashir’s three decades of iron-fisted rule came to an end in April 2019 when he was ousted by the army following months of protests against him. The 75-year-old was sent to prison after the military took over.
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