FACT CHECK: No, Kwankwaso did not fall at presidential campaign rally

A handful of social media accounts have claimed that Rabiu Kwankwaso, presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), fell down from a platform at his campaign rally.

In a viral video shared by a Facebook user, a man purported to be Kwankwaso could be seen on stage flagged by other party officials during a campaign rally.

“Finally he has felt the impact of corruption. I believe huge sum of money was mapped out for better and standard stage for this event but the person in charge of the contract go for substandard and pockets the rest. That’s what resulted to this. #VoteWisely,” reads the Facebook caption of the video.

So far, the video has gathered over 1.2k views.

In the circulating video, the man said to be Kwankwaso spotted a loose plank which he attempted to fix, shortly after, he fell down along with a couple of other party members when other planks on the wooden stage caved in. 

The man was quickly helped back to his feet by stunned party members wearing red caps, mostly worn by supporters of Kwankwaso.

On Twitter, multiple accounts shared the video with captions suggesting that Kwankwaso fell on the stage.

Small announcement that requires just few people on stage every will climb stage.

Kwankwaso na you fall? pic.twitter.com/RjnXbezedv

— O2 Channel. (@O2_Connet) December 27, 2022

Breaking News:

STAGE COLLAPSED… KWANKWASO FALL DOWN.

O TI LU LE. pic.twitter.com/ZEoZVGCttU

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— ADEDARSENAL (@ADEDARSENAL) December 27, 2022

Stage Breaks as Kwankwaso Falls Down..
I pray nothing happens to him…

Stage management is very important!
To fall for election na bad omen sha🏃🏽‍♀🏃🏽‍♀🏃🏽‍♀ pic.twitter.com/xvAhRcnvPm

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— ose4peter (@that_tech_woman) December 27, 2022

Also, news platforms like Pulse, WithinNigeria, and 247ureports, amongst several others reported the incident claiming Kwankwso fell at a rally.

But was Kwankwaso the person in the video?

VERIFICATION

TheCable subjected the circulating video to InVID, a video verification tool, a closer look at the keyframes from the footage revealed that the person who fell in the video shares no resemblance with Kwankwaso. 

Checks by TheCable revealed that the person referred to as Kwankwaso is Maliki Kuliya, a former commissioner of justice in Kano.

TheCable contacted Abdullahi  Rogo, NNPP spokesperson, to verify if the party’s presidential candidate was the one in the viral video.

“No, it’s false. That was not Kwankwaso,” Rogo said.

VERDICT

The claim that Kwankwaso fell on stage at the NNPP presidential rally is false. The person in the circulating video is Maliki Kuliya, not Kwankwaso.