Claim: A screenshot of the front page of a purported March 1, 2023, edition of the state newspaper, Daily Graphic, states former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan had advised ex-President John Mahama not to contest Ghana’s 2024 Presidential Election.
Verdict: Incorrect. DUBAWA’s checks with Daily Graphic had shown that the purported headline had been doctored.
The verified banner headline of Wednesday, March 1, 2023, edition of Daily Graphic reads: “Continuous voter registration: Ghana card guarantees voter integrity.” The story came with the image of the Chairperson of Ghana’s Electoral Commission, Jean Adukwei Mensa.
Full Text
As the various political parties in Ghana prepare to elect their Presidential and Parliamentary candidates ahead of the crucial 2024 General Election, many stories have started making the rounds on social media regarding the upcoming polls.
One such story is a screenshot of the front page of a purported Wednesday, March 1, 2023, edition of the state newspaper, Daily Graphic, which says former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan had called on ex-President John Dramani Mahama not to participate in Ghana’s 2024 Presidential Election.
Someone on Facebook first shared the purported screenshot with the account name Ackah Polley in which said post, as of Sunday, March 5, 2023, had received 41 comments, was liked four times, and shared twice.
Hours later, the screenshot was also shared by another person with the Facebook account name Nerralife Kasoa.
Verification
In verifying the authenticity of the screenshot, DUBAWA contacted Daily Graphic, searched for news reports on the subject matter and visited the social media handles of former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.
Ex-Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and his Ghanaian counterpart, John Dramani Mahama, were in Nigeria as part of the West African Elders Forum (WAEF) Election Mission to meet all the Presidential candidates and appeal to them to accept the result of the 2023 Presidential Election in Africa’s most populous country.
DUBAWA’s visit to the social media handles of Mr Jonathan showed his last post was about their meeting with Labour Party’s candidate, Peter Obi which was posted on February 28, 2023, as part of the WAEF Election mission. No indication that Mr Jonathan had asked Mr Mahama to call off his ambition.
A day after the All-Progressives Congress (APC)’s candidate, Bola Tinubu, was declared the President-Elect in the much-contested poll in Nigeria, ex-President John Dramani Mahama also launched his campaign to lead the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) ahead of the 2024 Presidential Election in Ghana. The video clip of Mahama’s launch is posted on the Facebook page of the ex-Ghanaian leader and starts from minutes 1:42:16 to 1:45:22.
Also, DUBAWA’s checks with Daily Graphic indicate that the purported content on the front page of the paper’s March 1, 2023, edition had been doctored, and the banner headline was incorrect. The surname of the ex-Nigerian leader is also spelt as “Jonathan” and not “Johnathan,” as captured on the purported screenshot of the front page of the Daily Graphic.
In a disclaimer published on its Facebook page, Daily Graphic described the publication as fake and charged the public to visit www.graphicnewsplus.com to confirm all their publications.
DUBAWA’s visit to www.graphicnewsplus.com showed the screenshot of the purported front page of the Daily Graphic for March 1, 2023, was fake. All the front pages of the newspapers published by the Graphic Communications Group Limited on the said day had been published on the website.
Similarly, a keyword search on Google showed that there is no other source for the claim apart from the two Facebook accounts.
Conclusion
The screenshot of the purported frontpage of the March 1, 2023, edition of Daily Graphic claiming ex-Nigerian leader Goodluck Jonathan had urged Mr John Mahama not to contest Ghana’s 2024 Presidential Election is incorrect as per the disclaimer issued by the state newspaper.
