FACT CHECK: Did Obasanjo Endorse Tinubu For 2023 Presidency?

A WhatsApp message which has gone viral claims that former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, said “i𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨, 𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙩 𝙇𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙨 𝘽𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙣”.

Bourdillon is the Ikoyi, Lagos residence of Tinubu, the presidential standard-bearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 election.

Newsbreak.ng reports that the message also quotes Obasanjo as saying that he doesn’t care about Tinubu’s past assertions about him.

This alleged statement by Obasanjo comes amid the resurgence of a past video where Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, named the erstwhile Nigerian leader as the “greatest election rigger” in the country. It also surfaced just one day after Tinubu visited Obasanjo in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Read the full WhatsApp message below:

“𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙣, 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙎𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙣 𝘼𝙧𝙢𝙮 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡. 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨, 𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙩 𝙇𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙨 𝘽𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙚…..” 𝙊𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙟𝙤
_
“𝙋𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙚𝙨, 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝘽𝙤𝙡𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙚 4𝙮𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙤, 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙇𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 20𝙮𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙤? 𝙄 𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙣𝙤 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙧 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 1999 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝘽𝙤𝙡𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙇𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙨, 𝙉𝙤 𝙊𝙣𝙚. 𝙃𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙙. 𝙄 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖..” 𝙊𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙟𝙤

But did Obasanjo truly say this? Newsbreak.ng fact-checks this claim.

Verification

No reference to any source was made, and there was no notice of such statement credited to Obasanjo in any credible media.

Verdict

The claim that Obasanjo endorsed Tinubu is blatant falsehood.