Fact-check: Were Guests Spraying Dollars and Naira at the Wedding of Danjuma Goje’s Daughter?

Fact-check: Were Guests Spraying Dollars and Naira at the Wedding of Danjuma Goje’s Daughter?

A video circulating online, especially on WhatsApp, claims that the wedding of Senator Danjuma Goje’s daughter turned into a festival of cash-spraying, with both foreign and local currencies covering the floor as the Senator gave his daughter, Fauziyya Danjuma Goje, in marriage.

The wedding Fatiha took place at the National Mosque in Abuja.

The text accompanying the video footage reads in part: “Sen. Danjuma Goje’s daughter’s wedding party. Dollar and Naira competing on the floor. When the average Nigerian barely can have a meal in a day.”

In the video footage, various currencies, including US dollars and Nigerian naira notes in different denominations are seen flying through the air, “raining” on the bride and landing on the floor.

This widely circulated video has triggered outrage online, with numerous reactions across social media platforms. Many have criticized the display as insensitive, especially in a time of economic hardship, and some are calling for Goje’s arrest by the EFCC for alleged naira abuse.

Danjuma Goje, a former Governor of Gombe State and current senator representing Gombe Central, has served in the National Assembly’s upper chamber since 2011.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stated in a February 2023 press release that, “For the avoidance of doubt, Section 21(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007 (As amended) stipulates that “spraying of, dancing or matching on the Naira or any note issued by the Bank during social occasions or otherwise howsoever shall constitute an abuse and defacing of the Naira or such note and shall be punished under the law by fines or imprisonment or both…’”

Additionally, Section 1(2)(c) of the law establishing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) designates it as Nigeria’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), responsible for coordinating efforts against money laundering and enforcing all economic and financial crimes in Nigeria, under which previous cases of naira abuse involving Bobrisky and Cubana Chief Priest were prosecuted.

To verify the accuracy of the claim, PRNigeria fact-checked the video by breaking it into keyframes and conducting a reverse image search, which revealed that the video began trending on TikTok on October 26, 2024, a day after Sen. Danjuma Goje’s daughter’s wedding.

Another video obtained by PRNigeria confirmed that Fauziyya Danjuma Goje and Aliyu Ahmed Abubakar tied the knot on Friday, October 25, at the National Mosque in Abuja, after Juma’at prayer. The wedding was attended by dignitaries, including President Bola Tinubu, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and Senate President Godswill Akpabio, among others.

However, PRNigeria fact-check team discovered another video of the senator’s daughter and the bridegroom dancing at a wedding party, without currency notes being sprayed.

The team then sourced for publicly available and published images of Senator Goje’s daughter’s wedding and compared it with that of the video circulating online. 

Findings show a clear contrast. First, the ambience and docor of the environment were different with the former using more light and chandeliers that the latter. Similarly, Goje’s daughter wore a mix of dark and sky blue outfit with a skyblue head gear to match, while her groom wore a skyblue “agbada” and a mix of sky and dark blue cap. In contrast the other couples in the video wore wore white and golden as the groom adorned a turban with golden rings around it. 

Further inquest revealed that the family of the bride has denied allegations of money spraying at Fauziyya’s wedding ceremony, describing the claim as a malicious attempt to tarnish their image.

According to Muhammad Yayari, Media Aide to the senator, the wedding held on October 25, 2024, at the Central Mosque in Abuja, was attended by prominent dignitaries. 

The family has reiterated that the bride and groom in the viral video are not Fauziyya and her husband, stressing that there are no familiar faces in the video, indicating that it is unrelated to them.

Conclusion: Findings by PRNigeria reveals that there are distinct identities in the two videos especially with regards to decor, facial features and outfits. 

PRNigeria therefore concludes that the claim that Senator Danjuma Goje’s daughter’s wedding was turned into a cash-spraying festival, with money littering the floor, is false.

By PRNigeria