Nigeria: Chair of Nigeria's Governing APC Party Said Country Needs No Transformation? No Evidence for Quote

12 January 2023
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Catherine Adeniyi

IN SHORT: Outgoing president Muhammadu Buhari recently said Nigeria would see "overwhelming transformation" if his APC party's candidate was elected as his successor. That's at odds with a false quote attributed to the APC chairperson, doing the rounds on social media.

"Peter Obi want to transform Nigeria to a 'New Nigeria', we don't need any transformation," reads what appears to be a quote circulating on Facebook.

The quote is attributed to "APC chairman". That would be the national chair of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu.

Peter Obi, the Labour Party's presidential candidate, is a strong contender in the February 2023 elections.

In his new year message, Obi said that he and Datti Baba-Ahmed, his running mate, were determined to serve Nigerians and "create a New Nigeria, a renewed nation bound in freedom, prosperity, peace and unity".

But did Adamu really make this statement?

No reports of statement

The Facebook posts don't give any details about when and on what occasion Adamu made the statement. This vagueness is a common trait of false claims.

There have also been no news reports of him saying Nigeria needs no transformation.

We found no evidence of the statement on the APC's verified Twitter account, its Facebook account or its website.

Indeed, outgoing president Muhammadu Buhari, who was first elected in 2015 on an APC ticket, was recently quoted saying that if elected, the party's candidate Bola Tinubu would "overwhelmingly" transform the country.

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Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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