Was that Hannatu Musawa in a viral video ‘vaping’ at a party?

A thirty-second video has been circulating on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram claiming that the lady in the video who was dancing and vaping shisha with friends at a party is Hannatu Musawa, the new Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy. In the video, a lady was seen dancing and vaping in an event with […]

A thirty-second video has been circulating on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram claiming that the lady in the video who was dancing and vaping shisha with friends at a party is Hannatu Musawa, the new Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy.

In the video, a lady was seen dancing and vaping in an event with the caption “See your Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy. Naija I hail o”

Another user shared the same video with the caption “Tinubu’s Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy celebrating her appointment at an event somewhere in Nigeria”

The post garnered many reactions; one comment said “God will definitely expose all of them one after the other.”

Another comment reads “Stop misinforming people in the name of impressions! The minister is from the North and this person is clearly from the West.”

A lady shared a similar video with the caption “I was at this party and this is not the Minister of Art, Culture and Creative. This is sis Nikkysulid”

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This is coming amid the controversy surrounding the minister’s NYSC status.

 Verification

In a bid to verify the authenticity of the video, Daily Trust on Sunday carried out a key frame-by-frame analysis of the video and the result showed that the lady in the video is Ramota Abdulai popularly known as Nikky Sulid dancing at a birthday party that took place in Lagos State.

The video was originally posted by an event influencer “Dior Imperial Media.”

Further search into Ramota’s official Instagram account showed that she posted a picture of herself in the same outfit on August 14, 2023.

Background

Hannatu Musawa is an attorney, politician and writer from Katsina State. She is the daughter of a veteran politician Alhaji Musa Musawa.

She was recently appointed as the Minister of Art, Culture and Creative Economy.

However, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) flayed the Senate for allowing her inauguration as a minister despite controversies surrounding her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate.

“Section 13 of the National Youth Service Corps Act stipulates that any Nigerian graduate below 30 who refuses to make himself/herself available for the compulsory one-year service has committed an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N4000 or face imprisonment for a term of two years or both.”

On September 14, 2018, a former Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun was forced to resign from former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration after a newspaper report that she forged her NYSC exemption certificate used in securing her appointment as minister.

In a statement issued by Hannatu Musawa in response to her NYSC status, she said “It is true I am currently on the NYSC national service which I began 8 months ago as a matter of duty and devotion to my country, having been unable to complete the scheme since I was first mobilized in 2001. I started the mandatory national service as a Corp member deployed to Akwa-Ibom State (Please confirm state) in 2001 upon completion of my university education.”

I could not complete the service the same year after my redeployment to Kaduna State due to family obligations. Despite this, it has been my personal resolve and commitment that I will always fulfill this national duty whenever I am opportune to do so.”

Conclusion

Based on verifiable information, Daily Trust on Sunday can confirm that the video in circulation suggesting that the Minister of Art, Culture and Creative Economy Barrister Hannatu Musawa was seen dancing and vaping in celebration of her new appointment is false and misleading. The video is from a birthday party that took place in Lagos State.

This Fact Check is produced in partnership with the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD)