An image showing Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election and the Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on a train ride together is making rounds on social media, particularly on X.
An X user, @Adabanpegede posted the image on October 22, 2024 with the caption: “Breaking News!!!!Defeated LP Presidential Candidate came to learn good governance in Lagos”
This post attracted about 257,00 viewers with 605 comments, 267 reposts and quotes, over 1,400 likes and 51 bookmarks as of the time this report was published.
@H_Habi reacted to this post saying, “Big shame on you,” while another user, @sim4Real2000 commented, “😂😂😂 something wen I see your mama dey hustle for for Ikeja inside”. @confindence24 reacted saying: “🤣🤣🤣🤣 honourable, please let there be peace.”
However, @HeDontMakeNoise replied to the post with another picture showing Sanwo-Olu with seven other people except for Obi saying, “You had to replace your father with Peter Obi’s image to give Sanwo Olu some relevance. After the likes and Kikikiki with fellow idiots, you’ll go queue for bread.” This reply prompted NV-A to verify the authenticity of the picture posted by @Adabanpegede.
VERIFICATION
The image was subjected to Google Lens and the results showed that the image was from Lagos Red Line Rail inaugurated by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on October 15, 2024.
The exact image matches revealed that the original picture was posted on the official X handle of Sanwo-Olu and Obi did not feature in any of the four pictures.
Sanwo-Olu’s caption on the picture reads, “Today marks a historic milestone in our journey towards a more connected Lagos!
“At exactly 5:20pm, the Lagos Red Line Rail departed from Platform 2 at Oyingbo Station, heading to Agbado. This inaugural ride symbolises a new era in public transportation for our great state”.
“The Red Line Rail will revolutionise the way we move across Lagos, connecting communities and boosting economic activities. This is just the beginning of our vision to transform Lagos into a world-class city with efficient and sustainable transport systems”.
“We are proud to commence the Red Line’s commercial operations, linking the heart of Lagos to its suburbs. This rail system is more than just infrastructure—it’s an investment in our people’s time, productivity, and quality of life”.
A further look showed news coverage of the Lagos Red Line Rail launch from Oyingbo Station to Agbado from The Punch, The Guardian and Ripples Nigeria with similar pictures from the governor’s post but there was no mention of Peter Obi being on the train’s inaugural ride.
A related one minute twenty-one seconds video posted by Jubril Gawat, the Senior Special Assistant on New Media to Governor Sanwo-Olu did not show any snapshot of Obi in the footage as the train journeyed from Oyingbo to Agbado.
