Nigeria’s Peter Obi of the Labour Party has emerged as one of the top contenders in presidential elections taking place on February 25, 2023. Social media posts claim to show a video of him announcing that he was dropping his running mate Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed in favour of Aisha Yesufu, a human rights activist and staunch Obi supporter. But the claim is false: AFP Fact Check found the video was edited to alter a speech Obi gave at a rally in Borno in northeast Nigeria.
“PetObi dumps Datti, announces Aisha as Running Mate (sic),” reads the tweet, which has drawn more than 75,000 views and over 1,000 likes since it was published on January 30, 2023.
The post was published by a Twitter account named "Ayekooto”. It often shares content in support of Bola Tinubu, the presidential hopeful of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The tweet features a short video of Obi speaking during what appears to be a political rally.
The same claim also appeared on Facebook here and here.
Obi, 61, is a two-time governor of Anambra state in southeast Nigeria and one of 18 contenders vying to succeed Buhari in this month’s ballot.
Obi’s popularity among youths -- who constitute the highest number of registered voters in Nigeria -- has continued to surge.
But the claim that Obi has a new running mate is false.
Many people commenting on the tweet suspected that it was false, and asked to see the full video of the rally.
Using a keyword search for “Peter Obi rally in...
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