Claim: Peter Obi was inside a train with Governor Sanwo-Olu to learn government

Verdict: Misleading

A post has been circulating on social media as an X (formerly Twitter) user with the handle Comrade Adabanpegede Abanikanda Etiogbosuti posted an image on his page that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, was posing in the train with the Lagos state governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and his aides.

The post, which suggested that Mr. Peter Obi was on the train with the Lagos state governor during the flag-off of the commercial operation of the redline rail on Tuesday, October 15 2024 to learn how to run good governance,” was captioned “Breaking News!!!! Defeated LP Presidential Candidate came to learn good governance in Lagos.”

Image posted by the X user

The post, which has generated 197 reposts, 70 quotes, 1491 likes, and 90 quotes as of the time of writing this report, has already elicited some reactions from the supporters of both parties. 

@AdaniaTimothy reacted, “Do you mean President-Elect, you stole his mandate? I am loving the suffering in Nigeria 🇳🇬 Una neva start oo”

@UPTOWNPPLE also posted, “Court gave him three months to defend his stolen mandate; he was busy talking about pre-election matters.”

@bodewarlord also I think Peter Obi is a wise politician. And his time will come someday, aside from tribal blindness to d truth, the man has a good heart not only for his people but for all tribes. He will do well leading this country only if he can spice his political tactics with some ruggedness.”

Due to the virality and the sensitivity of the post, NDR was nudged to check the truthfulness of the claim.

Verification

Using Google reverse image, NDR subjected the said picture to verification, and it was revealed that the image was photoshopped, in which Mr. Peter Obi was added to the image.Our findings revealed that the original photo had been earlier posted on the Lagos state official website, as the image was taken during the flag off of the Lagos commercial red rail line, and Mr. Obi was not present in the photo session.

The original picture bore the picture of the state governor and his aides.

According to the website, the original photograph of the image features the “Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu (third right); Managing Director of LAMATA, Engr. (Mrs) Abimbola Akinajo (third left); Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Hon. Sola Giwa (second left); Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Olawale Musa (left) and others during the flag off of commercial operations of the Redline rail at the Oyingbo Terminal on Tuesday, 15 October 2024.”

Conclusion

With our findings, we discovered that the image posted by the X user was manipulated as Mr. Peter was not featured in the original image. Therefore, the claim that Mr. Peter Obi went to Lagos state governor to learn governance, as posited in the image is misleading. Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanw0-Olu (third right); Managing Director of LAMATA, on Tuesday, 15 October 2024.