On July 1, during a reception organised by the European Union (EU) in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, Abubakar Bagudu, minister of budget and economic planning, announced that the country had signed the Samoa Agreement, a legal framework overseeing cooperations between EU member states and African, Pacific, and Caribbean countries.
Bagudu’s statement set off a string of chain reactions that would fan embers of deep-seated anger among citizens, and question the public’s trust in the government.
Some 48 hours later, an opinion article claimed that Nigeria’s signatory to the pact would usher in LGBTQ rights and escalate teenage sexual abuse. Sonnie Ekwowusi, the author, said Western countries aimed to reduce Nigeria’s human capital and undermine democratic pillars through the agreement.
“Nigeria must undo the damage; Nigeria should immediately proceed to withdraw from the LGBT Agreement. The National Assembly must invite the Nigerian officials who signed the agreement to explain why they did so,” Ekwowusi, chairman, human and constitutional rights committee, African Bar Association, wrote.
The article also appeared on Facebook on the same day and was shared with four groups: Humanity Charity Organisation International, a public page with 47.4k members; Muslim Groups with 150.9k members; a clone BBC Hausa page with 408k members; and Abuja Connect Centre, a group with 23.2k members.
On July 4, Kaybat News, a media company that seems to be run from Kano syndicated the story and posted a link to the Ekwowusi-authored opinion piece on its website via its Facebook page. The page boasts 31,000 followers. Multiple copy pasting of the story was also made on Facebook in Hausa by 15 pages generating 1,943 interactions in total.
Public figures were also involved in the dissemination of these narratives. All posts reference Abdulhadi Isa Ibrahim as the author.
The posts were made at a similar time with reference to Abdulhadi Isa Ibrahim as author, indicating patterns of a coordinated effort
Citing reactions from clerics, rights activists, and civil society organisations (CSOs), a news report headlined: “LGBT: Knocks As Nigeria Signs $150 Billion Samoa Deal” said Nigerians were furious about the government’s decision to sign the controversial Samoa agreement. The report referenced Ekwowusi’s article as an example of opposition to the pact.
According to the report, the agreement was gaining traction despite opposition by “many countries that cherish Islamic and Christianity values, in addition to the sensitivity of their cultures”.
The report was shared on X and Facebook, amassing nearly 3,000 reactions on both social media platforms. It triggered a wave of disinformation as other blogs, particularly in northern Nigeria, ran with the story.
THE BREAKOUT SCALE
One common tactic to manipulate public opinion is through influence operations. This involves using powerful tools, an organised network, and systemic weaknesses — in this case, the hostility towards the LGBTQ community in Nigeria especially in the northern parts where religion and culture are key factors.
In influence operations, a breakout scale describes where an influence strategy transitions from a niche or limited impact to achieving significant, widespread effects. Measuring the impact of these campaigns is done across six stages.
PHASE ONE: The opinion piece, when first shared to Facebook, signified the first stage. This confined the campaign to one online community on a single platform.
PHASE TWO AND THREE: Both stages happened concurrently, after multiple copy-pasting was done around the same time on one platform which was the second phase. The sharing of the article to X, another platform, almost immediately shot the campaign to the third phase. All posts referenced a single author – the engineer of the dissemination.
PHASE FOUR: Hours after the posts made the round on social media, the reports began to seep into mainstream media. TV stations began to grant Ekwowusi interviews and other forms of traditional media soon followed, elevating the campaign to the fourth stage.
PHASE FIVE: On social media, discussions began to get heated with popular accounts with large following discussing the subject, bringing the disinformation campaign to phase 5.
PHASE SIX: When influence operations enter the sixth stage, it marks a significant shift that risks harm. Calls for violence and policy change begin to echo. On July 8, multiple northern influencer accounts (Sample 1, Sample 2) began posting information on the board of directors of NGOs focused on LGBTQ+ rights and opened them to hate speech.
MORE DISINFORMATION TACTICS SPOTTED IN THE CAMPAIGN
Another way of describing and analysing disinformation behaviours is through DISARM frameworks. The DISARM frameworks are organised ways of describing and analysing disinformation behaviours.
Multiple tactics used to spread disinformation in this campaign were noticed. One tactic, “Distort facts”, was done by distorting the SAMOA agreement’s coverage of human rights to centre on LGBTQ rights.
While human rights are inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status, disinformation campaigners only narrowed the clause to centre on a particular group.
Another tactic — “Inauthentic sites amplify news and narratives” was employed. Inauthentic sites circulated and cross-published reports to amplify the narratives. Often, these sites have no masthead, bylines, or attribution. For example, a look at Kaybat News site’s source code showed there was no masthead and often no bylines.
“Threaten to Dox”, a tactic where private information about individuals was put out by multiple accounts was also used, exposing these individuals to attacks.
FG DEBUNKS LGBTQ CLAIMS
In response, the federal government said the Samoa agreement was signed in the interest of the country without contravening any of the existing laws.
Muhammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation, said the federal government signed the agreement on June 28 after extensive reviews and consultations.
The information minister said the review of the agreement was done by an inter-ministerial committee convened by the ministry of budget in collaboration with the ministries of foreign affairs and justice.
In addition, Bagudu said nowhere in the document mentioned same-sex marriage.
The minister clarified that what was signed hinged on a $150 billion trade component, adding that it would be wrong for anyone to imply that Nigeria had gone against the provisions.
But the explanations did little to soothe millions of citizens who had already run with prior false narratives that were spun.
FG COMES UNDER ATTACK
Nigeria’s Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act (SSMPA), passed in 2014, prohibits LGBTQ rights and criminalises marriage between people of the same sex.
The country’s legal position on same-sex marriage was what fuelled the uproar that followed its signing of the Samoa agreement.
President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who are both Muslims, were accused of betraying their religion.
The claims inundated social media, sat atop X trend tables, and became the leading subject of debate for influencers and political commentators.
“As a Nigerian, I’m saddened by President Tinubu’s signing of the Samoa deal with LGBT. This is a big slap in our faces, especially to those who voted him into power in the name of a Muslim-Muslim ticket,” an aggrieved X user tweeted.
“May the Almighty Allah save Nigeria from the hands of capitalists.”
In another reaction, an X user knocked the Nigerian senate for allowing a deal that introduced LGBTQ rights.
“I think we will imitate Kenya in some aspects,” one A A Hassan replied, referencing the recent anti-government demonstrations in Kenya, where citizens protested against the proposed Finance Bill 2024.
In a press conference, the information minister said the reports were beginning to compromise national security and stability.
Idris said while the government tolerates ethical media and free speech, it would not take fake news and disinformation lightly and that every lawful means would be used to seek redress in court.
In a separate address to the National Media Complaints Commission (NMCC), media ombudsman, the federal government said its officials were subjected to hate speech, threats, intimidation, and cyberbullying across social media as a result of the false reports.
WHAT DOES THE SAMOA AGREEMENT TRULY ENTAIL?
In simple terms, the agreement lays down principles for the EU and 79 countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific to address global challenges together.
Respect for human rights, democratic principles, and the rule of law constitute an essential element of the agreement, but it also encompasses areas like sustainable economic growth, climate change and migration.
The article does not mention LGBTQ rights.
The €150bn deal which Bagudu said informed Nigeria’s decision to become a signatory to the agreement is part of finances that is not exclusively available to the country but to Africa.
The scheme, known as Global Gateway, is aimed at boosting “smart, clean and secure links in the digital, transport, energy and climate-relevant sectors” and strengthening education.
EKWOWUSI’S PRECEDENCE OF STIRRING HEATED DEBATES
Ekwowusi is not new in the business of putting out narratives to drive certain interests.
The lawyer is one of the country’s most vocal anti-rights advocates and is at the nexus of many of the country’s major organisations that specifically oppose sexual and reproductive health and rights, including access to contraception and safe abortion.
Ekwowusi also sits on the editorial board of national dailies which he freely uses as his pulpit to stir sentiments among citizens.
In 2006, Ekwowusi’s editorials perpetuated a series of disinformation and misrepresentations about the proposed reproductive health institute bill.
These editorials contributed to an anti-bill climate that helped kill it before it reached the senate floor. Reflecting on the process for blocking the proposal in a 2008 editorial, Ekwowusi acknowledged as much when he wrote: “The lawyers who contested the Bill at the National Assembly had a hard time trying to convince the National Assembly that even though the word abortion was never mentioned anywhere in the Bill, it was nevertheless an Abortion Bill from head to toe”.
In May, the legal practitioner claimed surrogacy in Nigeria is a criminal offence punishable by the law, describing the act as “womb renting” and the greatest violation of a woman’s dignity and identity.
The claim is false.
Last year, Ekwowusi also claimed Nigeria secretly signed the pact despite calls for a pause.
After his statement, videos began to surface on Facebook claiming LGBTQ had been secretly introduced.
The foreign ministry refuted the allegations.
Following the heated debates over the LGBTQ accusations on social media, the national assembly reportedly bowed to pressure and asked the federal government to suspend the implementation of the Samoa agreement. This was despite the government’s establishment of the claims to be false.
On July 10, Akin Rotimi, spokesperson for the house of representatives, said lawmakers resolved to thoroughly scrutinise the Samoa agreement for “all contentious clauses”.
Amid the backlash, Ekwowusi’s untrue narratives continue to thrive.
This article was produced through a collaboration between The Cable and Code for Africa’s AAOSI programme. The AAOSI initiative is a collaborative effort to empower media and NGOs in African countries to combat disinformation and propaganda through training and resources, aiming to strengthen information integrity and foster collaboration among investigators in the region.
