Fact-Check: Old Obasanjo Video Falsely Linked to Tinubu’s 2027 Re-election Bid

Claim: An X user, @joysucex_, shared a post attributing a statement to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, urging Nigerians to reject President Bola Tinubu’s second-term bid over alleged failure and incompetence.

Verdict: Misleading

Background Story

As President Bola Tinubu intensifies his campaign for re-election in 2027, criticism of his administration has continued to emerge from opposition figures and other Nigerians,  accusing the president and the All Progressives Congress of recycling old promises.

On November 10, 2026, a viral X post attributed the following statement to former President Olusegun Obasanjo:

“Tinubu has failed; his incompetence has made many businesses die. Don’t let him come back for a 2nd term.”

See the post below:

The post, accompanied by a video of Obasanjo criticising an ineffective and incompetent government, attracted significant engagement, recording over 139,000 views and more than 2,000 reposts.

Many users interpreted the remarks as a direct criticism of Tinubu’s administration and an endorsement of rejecting his re-election bid.

@OlaniyiOnline said, “Yes, Tinubu is a failure, an artificial disaster, and the worst so far.”

@tobechiohaeri said, “Never reinforce failure. Tinubu’s regime must be brought to an end at the ballots next year.”

However, @patola58 challenged President Obasanjo, saying, “Who do you suggest we should replace him with? And tell us why you think he is better than Tinubu

However, NDRFactCheck’s investigation found that the video was old and had been taken out of its original context.

Verification

A quick search shows that the post has been published by some online print media, including Leadership, Daily Post, and an online radio, Emirate Radio .

However,  a rundown of the reactions in the comment section triggered some red flags as a user alleged that the video was Obidients’ doctored video, claiming, “This is Buhari’s first tenure, not President Tinubu’s.”

Another user, @sposhbaba, also observed, “This is a 2018 clip when he spoke about Buhari’s govt ”. 

This prompted a Google reverse image search of the video. We traced the video to a Channels Television YouTube report, published in April 2018 under the headline “Obasanjo Attacks Buhari Government.”

The report showed that Obasanjo made the remarks at the seventh Presidential Youth Mentorship Retreat, themed African Youth Renaissance, held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Further checks established that the remarks were directed at the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, not President Bola Tinubu, who was not yet president at the time.

Reports by The Punch and The Whistler in April 2018 also confirmed the original context of the comments.

Although Obasanjo has criticised Tinubu’s administration on other occasions, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project and the government’s economic reforms, NDRFactCheck found no credible evidence that he made the specific statement urging Nigerians to reject Tinubu’s second-term ambition.

Conclusion

The viral post is misleading. The video features genuine remarks by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, but they were made in 2018 and directed at the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari. They were falsely presented as a recent attack on President Bola Tinubu and his 2027 re-election bid.

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