Facts-Check: Did Kassim Shettima Meet US President Biden After 2023 Presidential Election?
Claim: There is group picture of Vice President – elect of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima with the United States of America President, Joe Biden trending on social media, claiming that it was at a meeting immediately after the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria
Full text: The Picture Post of Vice President – elect, Kashim Shettima in handshake with President Joe Biden of USA was accompanied with the ” Leaders!”
Verification: A thorough research by PR Nigeria revealed that the pictures were recently shared by Bashir Ahmad, special assistant on Digital Communication to President of Nigeria on his verified Twitter page with 1.5m followers.
As at the time of this fact check, Saturday April 8, 2023, the post has generated almost a million views, a thousand retweets and over 8000 likes.
PRNigeria visited @POTUS, the United State Government official handle of the 46th President of America but there was no such photo shared on the handle since April 3rd when it was shared by Bashir Ahmed.
PRNigeria also reviewed @JoeBiden the personal twitter account of the US President but no such information was shared. Similarly @KashimSM the verified handle of the VP elect did not share such post.
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Further research by PR Nigeria also revealed that no single credible media platform in Nigeria reported or syndicated the news story except opera news which still attributed the source to Bashir Ahmad’s post on Twitter.
A reverse image search of the photo reveals that the photo was shared as a throwback by the VP elect in February 2021 where he wrote “It was an honour to have been part of Mr. President, @MBuhari’s Official Working Visit to US, July, 2015.”
At the time, Joe Biden was the Vice President and not yet elected as the 46th President of the United States.
PRNigeria recalls that upon his election in 2015 after defeating incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr Buhari visited Washington D.C. for his meeting with President Barack Obama on with a 32-man delegation comprising governors, ex-governors, State House officials and businessmen.
Some of those who joined him of the visit include, Kashim Shettima (then Borno Governor), Rochas Okorocha (then Imo Governor), Adams Oshiomhole (the Edo Governor), Tanko Al-Makura (then Nasarawa Governor) and Abiola Ajimobi (then Oyo Governor).
At the time of that visit, President Muhammadu Buhari was yet to form his cabinet which took him about six months into his administration.
Conclusion: Fact gathered by PRNigeria reveals that the Vice President Elect, Kashim Shettima did not meet US President Joe Biden after the election. Photos that have emerged were those of 2015 when Shettima as then Governor of Borno state accompanied newly elected President Buhari to Washington DC in a 32-man delegation comprising governors, ex-governors, State House officials and businessmen.
PRNigeria, therefore, concludes that the image claiming that VP-elect recently met the US President is MISLEADING.
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By PRNigeria
