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Claim: Peter Obi supposedly said he pulled 439 million people out of poverty in a video shared on the X page of Wale Ajetunmobi, the Senior Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Media.
Verdict: MISLEADING. In the original video, which was cut mid-sentence, Peter Obi referred to how China pulled 439 million Chinese out of poverty through the MDGs programme.
Full Text
Since the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria, Peter Obi has maintained political relevance amidst contenders as the 2027 general election approaches.
Wale Ajetunmobi, the Lagos State governor’s senior special adviser on media, shared a five-second video on his X page on Aug. 30, 2025. The footage showed Obi addressing people when he supposedly said he pulled 439 million people out of poverty. Ajetunmobi wrote in the caption that Obi claimed in 2022.
As of September 3, 2025, the video has garnered over 465,500 views, 815 reactions, and 825 comments. Two hundred and twenty-five accounts bookmarked the post, which amassed 618 reposts within the timeframe.
Different Facebook users also shared the claim here, here, and here, where it amassed thousands of views.
Elton Onwu, a Facebook user, said, “This is no longer politics. I wonder what this man drinks to tell such lies.” He also urged viewers to share the post widely.
Flex Kempes, another Facebook user, expressed surprise at the quoted data. He said, “How many [are we in] this country since he pulled 439 million people out of poverty as the Governor of Anambra State?”
DUBAWA observed that reactions doubting Obi’s credibility dominated the comment sections across the posts identified. We fact-checked the video to authenticate the truth.
Verification
Drawing a cue from Ajetunmobi’s caption, DUBAWA used reverse image search to trace the video’s source for the complete version. We found a more extended video version on Ohamadike TV’s Facebook page. Obi, the then-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), spoke at an event with Northern Nigerians ahead of the 2023 general elections.
In the 56-second video, Obi discussed how China, India, and Vietnam had lifted millions out of poverty through Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) programs.
Between 0.10 seconds and 0.23 seconds, Obi said, “It was MDGs that China included in their development agenda and was able to pull 439 million people out of poverty. It was MDGs that India incorporated into their development agenda, and they were able to pull 269 million people out of poverty.”
The particular altered video now recirculating was cut between 0.13 and 0.16 seconds, where “and” was misrepresented as “I” in the viral claim.
DUBAWA used keyword search and discovered the message was from a one-hour interactive session with northern Nigerian leaders. The Arewa Joint Committee organised the session in Kaduna, northwest Nigeria, in October 2022.
DUBAWA also discovered credible fact-checking organisations, such as AFP and Africa Check, which fact-checked the viral claim in 2022.
Conclusion
The viral video was manipulated, as Peter Obi did not claim to have lifted 439 million Nigerians out of poverty. The original video showed that he was referring to the MDGs’ impact on China’s and India’s poverty rates.
