This Facebook post with an image of Nigerian politician Peter Obi with Biafra separatist leader Simon Ekpa is ALTERED.

The post reads: “This is Peter Obi the Presidential Candidate of Labour Party in a pose with Simon Ekpa and helping to promote a book he wrote about himself, the IPOB leader. This is the one that wants to rule Nigeria. Notice, Aisha Yesufu in the background.”

Obi was the presidential candidate for the Labour Party in Nigeria’s 2023 general election, who is challenging the outcome in the Supreme Court.

Ekpa, a Nigerian lawyer based in Finland, is an activist and leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a nationalist separatist group rooting for the reinstatement of the Republic of Biafra.

Also in the image is Aisha Yesufu, a Nigerian who actively supported Obi’s presidential aspirations.

A Google reverse image search established the photo in the claim is manipulated.

Author Suraj Oyewal shared the original image on Twitter on 22 July 2023, clarifying that Obi and Yesufu were digitally added to the photo.

The post reads: “Disclaimer This in-flight picture Mr @PeterObi graciously accepted to take with me yesterday when I presented to him a copy of my book has been photoshopped by some agents of fake news. Aisha and Simon Ekpa were photoshopped into the picture, which I understand is now being shared on Whatsapp, the HQ of fake news.”

The post adds: “Please ignore. This is the original picture. Mr Obi was kind enough to allow me disrupt his quiet time on a plane to take this picture.”

Yesufu also commented on a post, calling out the photoshopped image and stating: “I have added weight and almost doubled in that picture, so they should adjust accordingly.”

A side-by-side comparison of the image in the claim and the original reveals multiple alterations to the latter.

The original image depicts Oyewal’s book with his photograph and is titled, “A MAT OF ROSES,” in contrast to the manipulated image that features Ekpa’s photo and is labelled “I AM YOUR KING.”

In the image we are debunking, the Latin phrase “CAVEAT LECTOR,” meaning “Let the reader beware,” is visible in the upper left panel of the plane.

Additionally, Yesufu’s image in the background of the manipulated picture is blurry and disproportionate compared to the foreground images.

PesaCheck has looked into a Facebook post with an image of Nigerian politician Peter Obi with Biafra separatist leader Simon Ekpa and finds it to be ALTERED.

This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.

By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.

Have you spotted what you think is fake or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.

This fact-check was written by PesaCheck fact-checker Peris Gachahi and edited by PesaCheck senior copy editor Cédrick Irakoze and acting chief copy editor Francis Mwaniki.

The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck managing editor Doreen Wainainah.

PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water / sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org.

PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie, in partnership with a coalition of local African media and other civic watchdog organisations.