The clip is accompanied by the claim, “We have 18 Local Government Areas in Edo State. APC has won all the 11 Local Government in Edo North and Central, they have also won Ovia south West and Ovia North East making 13 local Governments won by APC, but PDP won 5 Local Governments”.
Video of APC Governors seemingly celebrating victory at the APC Situation Room : UNVERIFIED
The claim of APC winning in 13 local governments has not been verified as votes counting continues. The Edo State elections has seen the circulation of “fake news” from the supporters of the three main political parties contesting the elections- the All Progressive Congress (APC), the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP).
Fake press statements have circulated since Thursday announcing that one or the other of the gubernatorial candidates has “stepped down” for an opponent, a strategy to “confuse” supporters of the rival party and make them vote for their candidate’s opponent.
“Anticipatory” celebration of victory is physchological tool in the arsenal of electoral strategies of the political parties.
