Lagos / Abuja — Read the pay rate first: ₦3,000 per quote-tweet — less than two US dollars at current exchange rates — is the figure at the centre of allegations that the Bola Tinubu government is operating a paid social media influence network to defend its economic record online. That number, sourced from leaked WhatsApp screenshots published by Parallel Facts News, is as revealing about Nigeria's economic collapse as it is about the alleged mechanics of political manipulation.
The screenshots were shared publicly by Ife Salako (@ifesalakooffice), identified as a Labour Party coordinator in Lagos State. They allegedly show operatives linked to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) coordinating a network of paid social media promoters tasked with amplifying pro-government content. The full story was reported by Parallel Facts News, which stated it reviewed the screenshots directly before publishing. The outlet has not publicly disclosed a technical forensic authentication of the chat metadata, and the APC and presidency have not confirmed or denied the chats' authenticity. This article treats the content of the leaked screenshots as alleged unless and until independently verified or officially acknowledged.
₦3,000: The Economic Story Inside the Political Story
The ₦3,000 per-tweet figure is the detail that has cut through most sharply — and not only because it implies the existence of an organised influence operation. Commentators across Nigerian social media noted that the alleged rate represents a dramatic fall from what earlier APC campaigns were said to have paid, with some sources citing previous engagements of ₦20,000 or more per promoted post. The implied reading: even the government's propaganda budget is buckling under Nigeria's economic crisis.
"A government of propaganda over everything," read one widely shared comment online. "Then there's the myopic idiots who are selling their future for ₦3,000 per quoted tweet." The contrast between the daily economic struggle of millions of Nigerians — facing inflation above 30%, fuel prices above ₦1,000 per litre, and a naira that has lost more than half its value since 2023 — and influencers allegedly accepting sub-dollar payments to bolster the government's image struck many observers as a precise encapsulation of Nigeria's current political moment.
What Is Alleged, What Is Confirmed
To be clear about the evidentiary state of this story: what is confirmed is that screenshots were shared by a named Labour Party official and published by Parallel Facts News. What is alleged — based on the content of those screenshots — is that the APC coordinated a paid network, that ₦3,000 per tweet was the agreed rate, and that the operation was linked to individuals acting on behalf of the Tinubu administration. None of these claims have been independently authenticated through chat metadata analysis or corroborated by a second source. Parallel Facts News has not published details of its authentication methodology beyond the assertion of direct review.
At the time of publication, neither the APC nor any spokesperson for the Tinubu administration had issued a public response. The State House Communications Unit and the ruling party's media office had not commented. Both have been approached for this article. Their silence, in the face of a story circulating widely on Nigerian social media, is noted.
Nigeria in Continental Context
Alleged government-linked social media influence operations are not a Nigerian anomaly. Across West and Central Africa, political parties and sitting administrations have been documented operating paid networks of online promoters, a practice that has drawn sustained concern from digital rights organisations including Paradigm Initiative and the Media Foundation for West Africa. Research by the Oxford Internet Institute has documented computational propaganda operations in Nigeria in previous election cycles, establishing a documented history against which these new allegations must be assessed.
Nigeria's large, politically engaged social media population — one of the most active on the African continent — makes the digital information environment a high-stakes arena. The same connectivity that allegedly enables influence operations also empowers citizens to expose and ridicule them. In this case, the leak itself originated within the alleged network, shared by a political opponent who obtained the screenshots — a reminder that coordination at scale is difficult to keep secret.
In Nigeria, as across Africa's giants, challenges are real but entrepreneurial energy and cultural creativity drive progress. Citizens increasingly equipped with smartphones and digital literacy are proving equally adept at exposing the machinery of alleged political manipulation — and demanding accountability from those who would deploy it.
