The headline of an article on the Nigerian website Daily Excessive claims former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo said US president Donald Trump knew that Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s current president, was in fact dead.
It reads: “You Think Trump Doesn’t Know That Buhari is Dead? America Knows And They’re Coming And Those Who Are Running This Present Government In Nigeria With A Ghost President Or Rather An Imposter Will Be Held Accountable – Obasanjo Thunders.”
The article was published on 13 January 2020, and its headline shared on Facebook.
Obasanjo was Nigeria’s military ruler from 1976 to 1979 and its president from 1999 to 2007.
But the text of the article, credited to one “Peter Kulest”, doesn’t mention Obasanjo saying any such thing. It doesn’t quote Obasanjo at all, but is an opinion piece critical of Buhari, focusing on the 2019 presidential election.
A Google search quickly reveals that the article was originally published on 4 February 2019 by the US news publication Foreign Policy. Its headline reads: “Nigeria’s President Isn’t a Democrat. He’s a Liar.” It was written by Remi Adekoya, a Polish-Nigerian journalist, not “Peter Kulest”.
Daily Excessive copied the Foreign Policy article word for word, simply adding a false headline.
There is no publicly available evidence that Obasanjo made any statement about Trump knowing that Buhari was dead. There is no mention of it on the former president’s social media.
The headline is just clickbait, meant to draw readers to the Daily Excessive website. – Jennifer Ojugbeli
It reads: “You Think Trump Doesn’t Know That Buhari is Dead? America Knows And They’re Coming And Those Who Are Running This Present Government In Nigeria With A Ghost President Or Rather An Imposter Will Be Held Accountable – Obasanjo Thunders.”
The article was published on 13 January 2020, and its headline shared on Facebook.
Obasanjo was Nigeria’s military ruler from 1976 to 1979 and its president from 1999 to 2007.
False, clickbait headline
But the text of the article, credited to one “Peter Kulest”, doesn’t mention Obasanjo saying any such thing. It doesn’t quote Obasanjo at all, but is an opinion piece critical of Buhari, focusing on the 2019 presidential election.
A Google search quickly reveals that the article was originally published on 4 February 2019 by the US news publication Foreign Policy. Its headline reads: “Nigeria’s President Isn’t a Democrat. He’s a Liar.” It was written by Remi Adekoya, a Polish-Nigerian journalist, not “Peter Kulest”.
Daily Excessive copied the Foreign Policy article word for word, simply adding a false headline.
There is no publicly available evidence that Obasanjo made any statement about Trump knowing that Buhari was dead. There is no mention of it on the former president’s social media.
The headline is just clickbait, meant to draw readers to the Daily Excessive website. – Jennifer Ojugbeli
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
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Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
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