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FACT-CHECK: Is this crowd from PDP mega rally in Osun?

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CLAIM: A picture of a massive crowd is being circulated on social media and claimed to have emanated from the mega rally of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State.

VERDICT: False

FULL STORY
Osun State will be having its governorship election on Saturday, July 16. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirmed 15 candidates for the election. However, the major contenders are candidates of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), the (PDP), and the Labour Party (LP).
The incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola is seeking reelection under the APC; Ademola Adeleke of the PDP is giving it a second shot after losing to Governor Oyetola in 2018; and the Labour Party is represented in the election by a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Lasun Yusuff.

On Thursday, both APC and PDP held their final rallies in Osogbo, the state capital. The state chapter of PDP had earlier berated the state government for denying it access to the Osogbo City stadium for its mega rally. This denial forced PDP to opt for its secretariat in the state capital for the rally.

Read also:FACT-CHECK: Did the UK govt arrest Senate delegates who visited Ekweremadu in prison?

Big wigs in the PDP, including the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar stormed Osogbo for the rally. Various pictures were shared by members and sympathisers of the party, boasting of the large turnout for the rally.

Meanwhile, one of the circulated pictures is from a religious event elsewhere in Nigeria.

VERIFICATION
Ripples Nigeria, through a reversed image search, found that the picture was from the Islamic Eid-el Kabir celebration in Ilorin, Kwara State on July 9. The picture shows a large turnout of Ilorin residents trooping to the Eid praying ground on the day, as is the culture in the Muslim populated city on such occasions.

 The picture was shared on Twitter by the verified account of the state government, @followKWSG, with the following caption: “Worshippers in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on Saturday turned out en masse to observe the Eid-el Kabir prayer, with Governor @RealAARahman clearly setting the ground for a peaceful atmosphere with his open exchange of pleasantries with leading opposition figures #EidMubarak”

CONCLUSION

Other authentic pictures show a large turnout at the PDP mega rally in Osun State, but this particular picture was not from the rally, but from the Eid-el-Kabir celebration in the North central city of Ilorin, Kwara state.

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