The post, which has gathered more than 260 reshares since it was published, includes an image of Sanwo-Olu flanked by several people – Obi purportedly among them – who are holding a “Cowry” inscribed card used for boarding public transport in Lagos.
The image was posted by an account called “Comrade Adabanpegede Abanikanda Etiogbosuti”. The account’s feed features content and posts endorsing the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its leader, President Bola Tinubu.
Politically, Lagos state is known as an APC stronghold because of the party’s dominance in elections and occasional mergers that have kept it in power for more than two decades.
Obi is a former governor of Anambra state and is seen as a force against the established political order in Nigeria after polling third in the 2023 presidential race (archived here).
The post, however, attempts to ridicule Obi who is vocal about the need for Nigeria to industrialise and build sustainable governance but has been criticised for his own development track record as governor (archived here and here).
But the image posted by on X has been altered.
Altered image
AFP Fact Check conducted a reverse image search on the image.
One of the results led to a post on Facebook shared on October 15, 2024, by Sanwo-Olu.
In the post, the governor shared an album of nine pictures — all showing him flanked by government officials on the same train. According to Sanwo-Olu, the images were taken during the launch of the commercial operation of the 37-kilometre Lagos Red Line Rail that runs north to south through the state (archived here).
“At exactly 5:20 pm, the Lagos Red Line Rail departed from Platform 2 at Oyingbo Station, heading to Agbado. This inaugural ride symbolizes a new era in public transportation for our great state,” Sanwo-Olu wrote.
A comparison of the pictures reveals that Obi’s image was digitally inserted, replacing the man in a suit on the right of the picture in question.
Some of the pictures posted on Facebook were also published on the Lagos state official website (archived here), again showing that Obi was not part of the junket.
