A forensic investigation of viral footage and images reveals that Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf's photograph was digitally superimposed onto underwear originally used in a political protest, not distributed as government gifts.
Claim
A viral post circulating on Facebook, TikTok, and Hausa-language blog sites alleges that the Kano State Government, under Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, distributed red women's underwear bearing the governor's photograph as either campaign material or an empowerment gift to women.
Background
Several versions of the post carry captions such as 'Kano State Governor Distributes Pants as part of campaign material' and 'Kano Government Distributes pants empowerment.' The accompanying images show women holding underwear with what appears to be the governor's face printed on the fabric. Posts making this claim were widely shared on platforms like Facebook and Hausa blogs, accumulating hundreds of shares and comments expressing outrage. The claim carries potent political and cultural undertones: underwear distribution is considered deeply inappropriate in the predominantly Muslim society of Kano, designed to provoke maximum reputational damage.
Verification
Step 1: Tracing the Original Source
PRNigeria's fact-checking desk traced the earliest known footage to a TikTok post published on 24 April 2024 by influencer Teemah Cool, a prominent figure in the Gida-Gida TikTok community. The footage later migrated to Facebook, where a user with close to 700,000 followers shared the clip widely.
Step 2: Frame-by-Frame Analysis
Using InVID, a trusted verification tool, the original TikTok video was split into dozens of frames. No single frame showed any item of underwear bearing Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf's photograph, campaign logo, or government branding. The red underwear was plain.
Step 3: Digital Forensic Authentication
Digital forensics confirmed the original video showed no signs of post-production manipulation. An AI-detection tool ruled out synthetic generation, confirming the video is authentic and unedited.
Step 4: Forensic Analysis of Doctored Versions
Applying InVID to later versions with the governor's image yielded a digital manipulation confidence score of approximately 98 percent, indicating the image was superimposed in post-production.
Step 5: Error Level Analysis (ELA)
ELA revealed a visible discrepancy in the area containing the governor's image, with error levels sharply inconsistent with the rest of the fabric. This confirms a cut-and-paste composite. No such anomaly was present in the original footage.
Step 6: What the Original Video Actually Shows
The video was recorded during the official visit of Nigeria's First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, to Kano. A group of APC supporters brandished red underwear and chanted songs directed at opposition figure Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, using the derogatory term 'tsula.' This was political theatre, not a government distribution exercise.
Conclusion
The viral claim is the product of a two-stage information operation: genuine footage of a partisan protest was stripped of context, then digitally manipulated to superimpose the governor's photograph. The original footage contains no government branding. Later versions show manipulation levels approaching 98 percent. The claim that the Kano State Government distributed underwear as empowerment or campaign material is false.
