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FACT CHECK: Did Sultan of Sokoto, and former CBN governor, Sanusi, endorse Peter Obi?

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CLAIM: Two recent claims being circulated on Social Media are purported separate endorsements of the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, and the deposed Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi.

VERDICT: False

FULL TEXT:

In the doctored statement, which has been widely circulated on social media, the former Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi purportedly made comments on the three major presidential candidates in the 2023 general elections, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressive Congress, Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party, and Labour Party’s Peter Obi.

In the statement, Peter Obi was described as the only selfless person of the three. The comment on Obi goes thus: “He doesn’t need your money for anything. He wants to be President to reset things and lay the foundation for systemic governance in future.”

The writer alleged that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar had “milked Nigeria well enough systematically and just wants to answer President by all means”. Former governor of Lagos, Bola Tinubu was described as “fantastically corrupt”. “He just wants to fulfill his lifetime political ambition of answering President, even if he dies the next day after answering President,” the writer added on Tinubu.

FACT CHECK: Did Sultan of Sokoto, and former CBN governor, Sanusi, endorse Peter Obi?

FACT CHECK: Did Sultan of Sokoto, and former CBN governor, Sanusi, endorse Peter Obi?

Screenshots of the statement were widely shared on Twitter and WhatsApp especially.

FACT CHECK: Did Sultan of Sokoto, and former CBN governor, Sanusi, endorse Peter Obi?

In another screenshot being circulated on Social media, it was claimed that the Sultan of Sokoto promised to mobilize five million votes for Peter Obi.

“I will mobilize 5 million votes in the North for Peter Obi, I have never believed in an Igbo man the way I believe in Peter Obi – Sultan” the post read.

Read also: FACT CHECK: Were primary elections peaceful across the country as claimed by Buhari?

The screenshot shows that the post may have emanated from a blogpost. However, the nameplate of the blog is not visible.

FACT CHECK: Did Sultan of Sokoto, and former CBN governor, Sanusi, endorse Peter Obi?

VERIFICATION

Ripples Nigeria could not find both claims attributed to the two Northern leaders on any mainstream media platforms.

However, the Chief of Staff to the deposed Emir of Kano, Munir Sunusi Bayero, on Monday, stated that the article was not written by Sanusi.

“Our attention has been drawn to an article circulating the online media space analysing the motives of the three presidential candidates in the 2023 elections.

“We would like to emphatically state that this was not authored by His Highness, Khalifa Muhammad Sanusi II as is being widely attributed,” the aide said in a statement.

Bayero further clarified that the former CBN governor does not bear Sanusi Lamido Sanusi any longer.

“Consequently, given the need to set the records straight, we hereby state for the benefit of those unaware that the Khalifa is not officially referred to as Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, but as HH Muhammad Sanusi II.”

Although the palace of the Sultan is yet to deny the claim, the post was not found on the internet, suggesting that the screenshot being shared on WhatsApp was doctored.

Also, Tolu Ogunlesi, the Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Digital Media described it as fake.

He wrote via his verified twitter handle, “A seeming desperation for Northern endorsement is leading to all sorts of unbelievable gaffes. First there was the fake quote attributed to SLS. Now this is being circulated on Whatsapp by LP supporters.”

CONCLUSION

Both posts attributed to both prominent personalities from the northern part of the country are fake.

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