Fact Check: False News Report Indicates Peter Obi To Step Down For Atiku

The claim: Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi plans to withdraw his candidacy in support of Atiku Abubakar, citing a lack of a viable path to victory in the upcoming general election.

Supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party and social media users are circulating an article that purports to be a exclusive news report, stating that Peter Obi may withdraw his Presidential bid in support of Atiku, as the campaign council considers the option.

In a January 24 post that has garnered thousands of retweets, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Niger Delta, Festus Keyamo, wrote that they had informed supporters of Peter Obi that they were being taken to an unspecified location.

Efforts to reach the blog admin for comment by MANDY NEWS were unsuccessful, as they did not have a contact address and were not available on Twitter or other social media platforms.

Several supporters are also rallying behind the People’s Democratic Party, with tweets flooding in urging the former Anambra state governor to step down in favor of their chosen leader.

No reports of Peter Obi stepping down!

The claim is false, and there are no reports or evidence that Peter Obi is stepping down as Labour Party presidential candidate because “there is no path to victory in next month’s general election.” 

The website report is a fabrication, cooked up by a member of the ruling party. We’ve got the confirmation to prove it!

The same report, word for word, was also posted on the Nigerian observer. But don’t worry, we did our digging and uncovered that it was posted by a member of the People’s Democratic Party.

The mastermind behind the Nigerian Observer post – Dokun Ojomo, a loyal supporter of Atiku Abubakar and a proud member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

In a statement given in December 2022, Peter Obi stated that if the corrupt ruling class in Nigeria believed they could force him to step down, they were mistaken. He also confidently proclaimed that he would be successful in his pursuits.

The Labour Party is set to hold a rally today in Gombe state, with Peter Obi and his Vice Presidential candidate, Datti Baba Ahmed, in attendance at the campaign venue. This information has been confirmed by MANDY NEWS.

The team of Peter Obi and a prominent member of the party were contacted by MANDY NEWS regarding the allegations.

Our rating: False

Contrary to the false claim, our research has found that Peter Obi has not stepped down as the Labour Party presidential candidate and will not be supporting Atiku. There is no credible evidence or official statement to support this claim, and it appears to have been fabricated by a member of the ruling party.

Our investigation has revealed that prior to the presidential campaign announcement, supporters of certain political parties in Nigeria created multiple websites to disseminate fake news. We previously reported two of these websites to Google following their false publication about Peter Obi. Additionally, it appears that Festus Keyamo regularly shares these fabricated contents on his social media accounts.