Doctored photo falsely portrays Nigerian opposition leader kneeling next to president-elect
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on May 12, 2023 at 14:13
- 3 min read
- By Erin FLANAGAN
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“Tinubu’s posture: ‘No food for a lazy man like you Peter Obi, stop sleeping everywhere including at courts and airports, hero beer have overtaken your wakefulness, go for deliverance,” reads the caption of a tweet shared on May 9, 2023.
The tweet, shared by a former presidential candidate for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), features an image of Obi kneeling next to Tinubu, who stares straight ahead.
Tinubu is also a member of the APC and ran as the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, beating rival candidates Atiku Abubakar and Obi.
Adamu Garba II, who shared the image, has repeatedly attempted to link Obi with the Biafran separatist movement, a group agitating for independence in the country’s southeast.
“Hero beer”, mentioned in the claim, refers to Hero Lager, which is often affiliated with the Biafran movement.
But the claim that Obi was pictured kneeling next to Tinubu is false.
Digital addition of Tinubu
Using a reverse image search, AFP Fact Check found the same image of Tinubu seen in the false tweet published in several news articles (archived here).
AFP Fact Check matched elements to confirm that this is the original photo that was digitally altered to make it look as though Obi was kneeling next to Tinubu.
In both images, Tinubu is wearing the same outfit and watch.
In addition, the reflection in Tinubu’s glasses is the same.
AFP Fact Check also found the original photo showing Obi. In the image, he is kneeling next to Nigeria’s current vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, at a funeral service.
In both images, Obi is wearing the same outfit, and the same documents can be seen on the pew.
Several prominent politicians, including Obi and Osinbajo, attended the funeral service for the father of Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri in early May 2023.
Biafran-linked beer
Adamu Garbu II has repeatedly attempted to tie the opposition leader to the Biafran separatist movement.
AFP Fact Check debunked another claim in which he shared an edited image of Obi with bottles of Hero Lager in front of him.
Calls for a separate state of Biafra remain a hot-button topic in Nigeria decades after secessionist leader Chukwuemeka Ojukwu declared the independence of the country’s southeast in 1967. This was followed by a brutal 30-month civil war.
Though the breakaway state has since rejoined the rest of the country, members of the separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and those sympathetic to its cause still refer to themselves as Biafrans.
The Nigerian government designated (archived here) IPOB as a terrorist group in 2017.
Obi, from the southeast, has repeatedly fought (archived here) against accusations that he supports (archived here) or is affiliated with IPOB.
Vote-rigging allegations
Final presidential results (archived here) released by Nigeria’s electoral commission show that Tinubu received 8.8 million votes, while his closest rival, Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the People's Democratic Party, gathered 6.9 million votes. Obi tallied 6.1 million votes.
However, allegations of widespread voting irregularities and rigging marred the election. Obi and Abubakar have openly contested the results.
Nigeria's electoral commission has denied any illegal activity, although it has acknowledged technical problems (archived here) with the voting machines.
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