After the Nigerian government announced a salary increase for the military, social media posts shared a screenshot of a news banner with a headline claiming opposition politician and presidential candidate Peter Obi had urged troops to reject the pay hike. However, Obi rejected the claim, as did the newspaper linked to the false quote, which was added to a an old and unrelated story.
“Peter Obi has called on the Nigeria military to reject the increase of their salary until after the 2027 election,” reads an X post published on August 8, 2026.
Shared more than 160 times, the post includes a screenshot resembling a news banner from Nigerian publisher Peoples Gazette.
“Nigeria army should reject the new approved salary increase until after 2027 election,” reads the headline, styled as a quote attributed to Obi.
Below the purported quote is a sub-head reading: “The investigative digital outlet stands by its story.”
The rest of the graphic includes a file photo of Obi, a reporter’s byline and the date, August 8, 2026.
Screenshot showing the altered X post, taken on August 17, 2026
Similar claims were shared elsewhere on Facebook with the graphic here, and without it here and here, as well as on X here and here.
On August 4, the Nigerian government approved salary increases of 30 to 80 percent for the military (archived here).
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