Claim
A post has circulated online claiming that Omoyele Sowore and Farooq Kperogi have endorsed the candidacy of former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi two days after he declared his intention to run for the 2023 presidency.
Conclusion
The claim is FALSE; both Sowore and Kperogi debunked that they had endorsed Obi.
Full Text
A post has circulated online claiming that Omoyele Sowore and Farooq Kperogi have endorsed the candidacy of former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi two days after he declared his intention to run for the 2023 presidency.
The post which was shared by a Facebook Page named MR BASH contains an image of Peter Obi and captioned with quotes purportedly made by Sowore and Kperogi.
As of 7:14 pm on Monday, March 28, 2022, the post has garnered 302 likes, about 71 comments with over 90 shares.
Verification
Checks by The FactCheckElections show that the claim is FALSE.
Findings by The FactCheckElections revealed that the claim has been denied by Omoyele Sowore, who is equally a presidential aspirant in the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
In a tweet on his verified Twitter page, Sowore stated the claim that he said Peter Obi is not corrupt is completely false.
“The news being circulated that I said @PeterObi is not CORRUPT is completely FALSE! I never said such a thing. My position is clear, Peter Obi is not different from his colleagues in @OfficialPDPNig and @OfficialAPCNg. They are one and the same! Thank you!” The post reads.
In the same vein, The FactCheckElections checked the Facebook page of Farooq Kperogi, a US-based Nigerian professor and columnist, who was also purported to have endorsed Peter Obis presidential ambition.
Findings from his page revealed that Kperogi made a post on Peter Obi’s presidential ambition on Friday, March 25th titled Peter Obi: Applying to Be Driver of a Knocked-Out Car.
However, at the end of the post Kperogi cautioned that the post does not in any way means an endorsement of Peter Obi.
“This is not, by any means, an endorsement of Obis presidential bid. Its simply an acknowledgement that Nigeria has a virile option in him” the caution reads.