Viral picture message suggests Obasanjo said that there is no coronavirus in Nigeria and that the minister of health lied.
President Obasanjo’s spokesperson, Kehinde Akinyemi refuted allegations attributed to Baba; a moniker often used to describe the former head of state. Additionally, Dubawa initiated a google reverse image search, which revealed that the “Fox News Writer” (the source) used the image out of context.
Full Text
News of this viral statement attributed to the former Nigeria president has been trending on all media platforms. Particularly yesterday, March 4, Dubawa received this screenshot from several users on WhatsApp; with many questioning its authenticity. The circular elicited several reactions across social media.
Verification
Firstly, Dubawa reached out to Olujonwon Obasanjo (his son) via a mutual contact, to ascertain the legitimacy of the claim. We, however, got no response; we also sent a text message to him and await a response.
Next, Dubawa put a call through to Kehinde Akinyemi, his spokesperson who was initially not forthcoming with the team. Notwithstanding, through the aid of a Premium Times correspondent, we were able to reach him.
“any statement that is attributed to Baba but did not include when and where he made it should be disregarded. Baba didn’t say it and couldn’t have said it”
Kehinde Akinyemi
It would be TV news, not blog news
Customary with the Former head of state, his known method of information dissemination, especially on matters of national importance, is through letter writing. Let’s assume it was an interview, what station broadcasted it? Would it not have made the 9’oclock news? These unanswered questions put a hole in this story’s plot.
Beyond words, images don’t lie.
As it turns out, Fox News Writer published another article attributed to the former head of state in February, using the same image; this casts a cloud of scepticism on the claim’s authenticity. More so, to say the article was stingy with details would be an understatement. The publication failed to cover the essential 5 Ws and H; only saying “more details soon”. And this was since March 2.
Interestingly, when you examine both images, they bear a Punch logo. So, Dubawa reached out the newsroom. We are yet to receive a response from them, though, all signs point to it being a doctored image. As always, we will update this fact-check once we receive new information.
This is my very first time on this news site and I must confess I’m impressed with the quality of journalism here.
The publisher is the kind we actually need at this era of fake news.
Please keep it up.