Claim: A Twitter user on February 22, 2023, shared a picture of Peter Obi, Labour Party’s Presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, on a boat, with the description that Peter Obi abandoned campaigns to be with flood victims.
Verdict: Misleading. Peter Obi visited victims of the flood incident in October 2022 and not on February 22, 2023, as the tweep portrayed it.
Context
A Twitter user, Obedient Spotlight on February 22, 2023, claimed that Peter Obi abandoned campaigns to visit victims of flood incidents in Nigeria.
“Peter Obi abandoned campaigns to be with people affected by flooding in Nigeria, where were Atiku and Tinubu when Nigerians lost all they have to flood?” he asked.
The tweet has an image of Peter Obi and another person on a canoe, in an area that has been submerged in water.
The tweet which has been viewed over 71,000 times has 281 likes and 51 retweets as of March 6, 2023.
Peter Obi abandoned campaigns to be with people affected by flooding in Nigeria, where were Atiku and Tinubu when Nigerians lost all they have to flood? pic.twitter.com/1M3iHmB8Sw
— Obidient Spotlight 👀 (@King_Inspires) February 22, 2023
Validation
To verify this claim, a media search was done to ascertain the authenticity of the post which appeared a few days before the presidential elections.
Different media reports showed that Peter Obi visited different communities across Nigeria that were affected by floods in 2022.
According to the media reports, Peter Obi said he halted his campaign activities to visit the victims of the flooded communities.
He also called on the other presidential candidates to do the same, while he called on the Federal Government to declare a flood emergency.
Also, using a reverse image search to verify when the attached image first appeared online, Yandex search showed a tweet post that Peter Obi shared on October 22, 2022, when he visited some flooded communities in Anambra.
“In continuation of my visits to areas affected by flood, I visited parts of Anambra East and West with stakeholders; Dr Tony Nwoye, and Chief Peter “McPee” Aniekwe. Houses were submerged to the roof levels,” Obi tweeted.
In continuation of my visits to areas affected by flood, I visited parts of Anambra East and West with stakeholders; Dr Tony Nwoye, and Chief Peter “McPee” Aniekwe. Houses were submerged to the roof levels. pic.twitter.com/7piD9rLr7D
— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) October 22, 2022
Conclusion
The claim that Peter Obi abandoned his campaigns a few days before the presidential election to visit flood victims is MISLEADING. The visits to the communities affected by the flood were conducted in October 2022.
This fact-check was produced by BONews Service with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck, International Fact-Checking Network, and African Fact-Checking Alliance network.