Claim: An X user posted a picture of Peter Obi bowing before President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Verdict: Misleading! Our findings show that the photo is manipulated.
Full Text
Nigeria’s tightly contested 2023 Presidential election saw a divisive campaign run by some supporters of the country’s leading political parties, i.e., the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Labour Party (LP). In the aftermath of the elections, the APC came 1st, the PDP 2nd, and the LP 3rd, according to results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
However, after the election, some loyal supporters and critics continued to run divisive campaigns against one another.
On March 29, 2024, an X user, Ayekooto, posted an image with the caption, “Respect anyone who is greater than you.”
The posted image depicts the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential flag bearer, Peter Obi, bowing down before Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in the presence of the NNPP’s 2023 Presidential flag bearer, Rabiu Kwankwanso.
As of Monday, April 1, 2024, the image generated over 63,000 views, 1,173 likes, and 138 reposts on the X platform. The comment section was filled with several comments and reactions from the platform’s users.
Victor Benakin wrote, “When you respect your elders, God will bless you with respect and more grace.
Fidel Otuya wrote, “When was the shot taken?”
Mario wrote, “Tell your graphic designer that he or she is still a novice.”
Having observed the engagement generated by the post and reactions to the upload by other social media platform users, DUBAWA decided to fact-check to set the record straight.
Verification
A search on Google Lens and a further exact matches search using the posted picture brings up an old image of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from April 26, 2023, whose hands are locked in a handshake with the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote.
This same image, which bears the exact posture and background setting, has been manipulated to include a photo of Peter Obi. At the same time, a picture of Rabiu Kwakwanso in a meeting with President Tinubu from August 25, 2023, has also been edited. A combination of editing skills was deployed to create the posted image, whose lightening and clarity, upon a closer look, differ and appear blurred in parts.
A further search by DUBAWA shows that no credible media outlets published the same picture posted by the X user on any mainstream media sites.
We also noticed an imprinted word “Caveat Lector” used at the bottom of the image, which indicates that the picture was manipulated. The phrase means, “Let the reader beware…” and a replica of the manipulation was first used by an X user, Luca Brasi-5.0, on Aug 19, 2023.
Conclusion
Our findings show that the picture uploaded by the X user is a manipulated copy from April 26, 2023. Hence, the claim is misleading.
The researcher produced this fact-check per the DUBAWA 2024 Kwame KariKari Fellowship, in partnership with Diamond 88.5 FM Nigeria, to enrich the ethos of “truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.
