FACT-CHECK: Tinubu Campaign Misrepresents French TV’s Report To Disinform Nigerians About Peter Obi

Despite warnings from different quarters against the spread of fake news ahead of Nigeria’s presidential election, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council has ignored the admonition and shared fake news about Mr. Peter Obi — the Labour Party candidate.

In a tweet on Thursday, the APC PCC claimed that the French state-owned international news television network, France 24, aired a news report “confirming that Peter Obi is a Merchant of Fake News”.

Bayo Onanuga, the Director of Media and Publicity of APC PCC, retweeted the fake news and captioned it: “Peter Obi the liar. I didn’t say so. He was busted by France24.”

The ruling party’s campaign council had attached a video of the news report and falsely claimed that France 24 fact-checked Obi over an alleged incorrect claim he made during the Arewa House town hall series held for presidential candidates.

But checks by THE WHISTLER showed that contrary to the APC PCC’s claim, France 24 was fact-checking fake news targeted at Obi in the said report.

Catalina Marchant de Abreu of France 24 had reported a rise in fake news surrounding Nigeria’s forthcoming elections and that the “Labor candidate Peter Obi, who has emerged as a top presidential contender in Nigeria,” was the target of the fake news fact-checked by the French TV network.

The Brazilian-Chilean journalist reported that Peter Obi “is predicted to have the highest chances of becoming Nigeria’s next president…,” adding that the opposition was circulating doctored videos purporting Obi as claiming to have pulled 439 million people out of poverty in Anambra State, whereas the total population of the country is about 200 million.

The medium further shared a YouTube video of Obi’s actual statement at the Arewa House, saying “Peter Obi was actually speaking about China’s adoption of a millennial development goal that helped lift 439 million citizens out of poverty in China” and not Nigeria.

The French news medium concluded that “Mr. Obi has been the victim of a very widely viewed setup”.

On Wednesday, the BCC similarly uncovered how Nigerian politicians pay influencers to misinform the public by spreading fake news about their opponents with the aim to gain undue advantage against them at the polls.