A post circulating on Facebook and WhatsApp claims OPay, a mobile money operator, has announced its withdrawal from the Nigerian market and urged customers to withdraw their funds within a month. The post included a link, adding an air of credibility to the claim.
Given the wide circulation of the claim, The Explainer fact checker decided to verify its authenticity. This was done by conducting a keyword search on Google for news related to OPay leaving Nigeria and asking users to withdraw their money, but no credible reports or announcements from the company were found to support this claim.
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Furthermore, the Explainer visited OPay’s official X (formerly Twitter) handle and found a disclaimer published by the company directly refuting these claims. The disclaimer states:
“We wish to address a recent misinformation and unfounded claims from unreliable sources circulating on Whatsapp and some microblogging platforms regarding OPay discontinuing operations in Nigeria. We wish to state that these claims are entirely false and lack merit.
OPay has been an important stakeholder and key player in the Nigerian financial ecosystem since 2018 providing unrivalled services and outstanding experience to the tens of millions of customers who rely on us for financial services.
We have remained steadfast in our mission to make financial services more inclusive through technology and promoting economic growth.
We urge the public to remain vigilant against false narratives and unfounded claims perpetrated by sources that lack credibility.
Thank you for your continued trust and understanding.”
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In this disclaimer, OPay explicitly denies the claims of leaving the Nigerian market and has urged its customers to disregard them.
Verdict: FALSE
Conclusion:
Based on the lack of credible reports, OPay’s official statement refuting the claims, and the co mpany’s continued operations in Nigeria, it is evident that the circulating claims about OPay leaving the Nigerian market and asking customers to withdraw their money are false.
