Imagine scrolling through your phone during an election campaign and seeing a post that makes you pause. It might be a claim about the economy, a political ad attacking a candidate, or a news headline that feels off. Do you fact-check it? Do you share it? Do you ignore it? Most of us would like to believe we are careful, rational consumers of information. But a recent study conducted during Australia’s 2025 federal election suggests otherwise. Rather than starting from the assumption that people are motivated to verify what they see, researchers wanted to understand what people actually do when…

In a political atmosphere often clouded by rumour and hasty judgement, former Kogi State governorship candidate Alhaji Murtala Yakubu Ajaka has taken a firm and unambiguous step to separate his identity from a protest that erupted this week at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Abuja. The demonstration, staged by a group known as the Coalition of Kogi East Youths Association, was a visible show of frustration over what the protesters described as the deliberate sidelining of their senatorial district in the ongoing process of creating additional political wards across Kogi State. The young men and…