AS some Nigerians protested against the state of governance in the country during the June 12 Democracy day, an old open letter written by a former president of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo resurfaced on social media.
The letter which is shared with the date “June 12, 2021” has been shared repeatedly on social media, especially on WhatsApp groups.
An analysis of the letter shows it has similar content with a previous letter written by the former President.
Obasanjo led the nation twice. First as a military administrator from 1976 to 1979, and as a democratically elected president in 1999. He stayed in the office for eight years and left the office in 2007.
Since he left office, he has played an active role as an elder statesman. Obasanjo would occasionally write letters to the country’s presidents in situations that demand attention.
For instance, during Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, about four similar letters were written to Jonathan on the nation’s state of affairs. One of such dates December 2, 2013. It was titled “Before it is too late.”
THE FINDINGS
A line by line check reveals the viral letter attributed to the former president was written by him on July 15, 2019.
Checks on each of the paragraphs show similar content, except for the closing section and the date.
The original letter published in reputable national dailies was released by Obasanjo’s media aide. It was also dated – July 15, 2019.
In addition, the FactCheckHub reached out to the Special Assistant on Media to Obasanjo, Kehinde Akinyemi by sharing the letter to him via WhatsApp, he confirmed that the letter is an old one.
“Okay. My verdict is that it was an old letter dated July 15, 2019. Thanks,” Akinyemi responded.
THE VERDICT
The findings shows that an old letter written by a former president Olusegun Obasanjo in 2019 resurfaced online in 2021 with some parts altered. Therefore, it is inaccurate and MISLEADING.
