Claim: Emirates airline promises 1-year free flight tickets to Nigerians if Peter Obi wins
Source: Facebook post
Verdict: FALSE
Researched by Gifty Tracy Aminu
A post shared by a Facebook page, Igbo Times claims Emirates Airline has promised a “one-year free flight ticket” to any Nigerian going to Dubai if Peter Obi wins.
The post appeared as “suggested to you” on the timelines of Facebook users and further encouraged users to click a link.
Attached to the Facebook post is a picture of some air hostesses of the airline and a picture of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in Nigeria, Peter Gregory Obi, who is contesting in the country’s 2023 polls.
The post has since generated close to 30,000 interactions including likes, shares and comments and this fact-check report seeks to verify the accuracy of the claims made in the post.
Fact-check
Emirates, which is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates has dismissed the claim as false.
The Public Relations Manager of the Airline, Rula Tadros, in an email response to FactSpace West Africa said: “Emirates has made no such announcement. All Emirate’s authorised content is hosted, on our official channels, including our social media accounts marked with a blue tick.”
With more than 100, 000 followers on the popular social media platform, the handlers of the Facebook page seem to have changed its name from Igbo Times to Igbo Times Magazine.
Checks from Facebook’s page transparency records showed handlers of the page have changed its name four times since it was set up last year on December 1, 2021.
Verdict
The claim is rated FALSE.