Fact-Check: Old Video Falsely Claims Goodluck Jonathan Endorses Peter Obi for 2027

Claim: A Facebook page posted an old video claiming that former President Goodluck Jonathan backs Peter Obi for the 2027 presidential bid.

Verdict: Misleading

Full Text:

A Facebook page called “Anambra Current News” shared a video claiming that former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan supports Peter Obi’s 2027 presidential bid. The video includes a graphic boldly captioned, “2027 GOOD LUCK JONATHAN BACKS PETER OBI”.

Other information in the graphics is a picture of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, the logo of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and images of Goodluck Jonathan.

Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso recently left the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the newly formed Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) following internal disagreements and multiple litigations in court, as both men pursue their presidential ambitions ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general election.

Why Goodluck Jonathan?

Goodluck Jonathan served as Nigeria’s president from 2010 to 2015 under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). He gained international recognition after conceding defeat to Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 election, a move widely praised for strengthening Nigeria’s democracy. In recent years, he has largely played a statesman role and has seldom made direct public endorsements of presidential candidates.

NDRFactcheck found that the video drew wide attention because Jonathan remains influential as a former president and is widely respected for conceding defeat in 2015, a move seen as strengthening Nigeria’s democracy. As a result, his name is often used in online political endorsement claims.

Others found shared platforms here, and here. How true is this information?

supports,

Screenshot of an image from the video

Verification

A Google reverse search of the screenshot part of the video into an image, a captioned image of former president Goodluck Jonathan on the graphic, linked us to the Facebook video posted by Channel Television.

To confirm the source of the circulating video, we searched YouTube using the phrase “Channel TV of Jonathan speaking to Peter Obi in 2023.” Our findings showed that the clip is from a courtesy visit Peter Obi paid to Goodluck Jonathan at his Bayelsa residence during the 2023 general election.

Screenshot from the YouTube channel of Channels TV

A post by Advocacy for Good Governance shows a bold video during the 2023 general election.

Conclusion

Our findings show that the viral claim that Goodluck Jonathan recently endorsed Peter Obi’s 2027 presidential ambition is based on an old video. The claim is therefore misleading.

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