On Friday, June 20, 2025, Tribune Online published an article stating that the governor of Bayelsa State, Diri Duoye, proposed to the National Assembly to amend the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria so that state governors could get a third term in office.
The publication claimed that the governor made this statement during his ‘Thank You Tour’, at the King Koko Square in Nembe Local Government Area.
This news went viral on Facebook and X platforms, with quick reactions from netizens.
We got curious and wondered if a governor would make such a statement or if it was the handiwork of online fake news peddlers who are trying to tarnish the image of the current sitting governor of Bayelsa State.
Also, we wanted to find out if it was published for securing views and followership?
Let’s quickly do a Fact-check.
Background
You see, Senator Diri Duoye just got re-elected as the governor of Bayelsa State; and he had just begun his second term in office. In fact, he has barely spent two years in that second term of 4 years.
Why would he make such a statement, more so, considering that he came on the tour to thank the people for re-electing him?
Well, it was found that the article in question was published at around 7:00P.M. on June 20, 2025, by a journalist with Tribune Online, Ebiowei Lawal and shared on Facebook.
The publication, as of the time it was fact-checked, had generated 351 likes, 519 comments and was shared 33 times on Facebook.
Furthermore, the publication was found on Hanson Iziegbe Ekhator Facebook page
And on the pages of the Nigerian News Point, MSN.com, was a similar content to what was published by Tribune Online
Further checks revealed that the article was published by Ebiowei Lawal, a journalist who works for Tribune Online in Bayelsa State.
The publication also showed up on Threads, where Tribune Online has 32.1k followers, with the link below. It had already garnered 340 views and 2 comments.
Verification
To verify the claim in the article stating that Diri Duoye wanted a third term in office, Google was employed to search for recent publications that have to do with “third term” and “Diri Duoye proposing a third term for governors”.
We also checked YouTube for videos on the “Thank You Tour” of Diri Duoye to all 8 local government areas in Bayelsa State after his re-election, and nothing corresponded with the publication being fact-checked.
The other videos YouTube and Facebook showed Bayelsans dancing and celebrating with the governor during his Thank You Tour to the different LGAs
No other video or text publication emerged supporting the claim that Diri requested the National Assembly to amend the constitution to elongate governor’s term in office.
Conclusion
Based on our findings and research on this publication, it is believed that Ebiowei Lawal may have published something different from what was communicated during the tour.
Therefore, the claim that the governor of Bayelsa State, Diri Duoye, proposed a third term tenure for governors is false and misleading