By Pascal Ibe

Claim

Reno Omokri claimed that the World Health Organization (WHO) ranked Onitsha as the world’s dirtiest city during Peter Obi’s term as Anambra State governor.

Verdict

This claim is MISLEADING. WHO ranked Onitsha as the world’s most polluted city (NOT dirtiest)in the world in 2016 during the time of Chief Willie Obianọ as Anambra State governor, NOT Peter Obi.

Full Text

Reno Omokri, a former aide to President Goodluck Jonathan, has been a vocal critic of Peter Obi, particularly since Obi’s emergence as a presidential candidate for the Labour Party in the 2023 elections. Omokri has made numerous allegations against Obi and his supporters, often known as “Obidients.”

Omokri has challenged Obi to name specific schools he built as governor of Anambra State, even offering a monetary reward for proof.

In March, Omokri openly declared his intention to dismantle the Obidient movement, citing personal threats and a fallout with Peter Obi as the driving forces behind his decision.

I took a vow to destroy that movement because Peter Obi was a project of mine,” Omokri stated, recalling his efforts in shaping Obi’s national prominence.

According to him, alongside Senator Ben Murray-Bruce and a former president, he played a key role in securing Obi’s position as Atiku Abubakar’s running mate in the 2019 presidential election.

In recent times, Mr Omokri has been a notorious merchant of misinformation and disinformation in Nigeria. FACTWATCH and other verification platforms have many times fact-checked and debunked some of his claims here and here.

On 5th August 2025, Mr Omokri, while criticizing Peter Obi, claimed that the World Health Organization (WHO) ranked Onitsha as the world’s dirtiest city during Peter Obi’s term as Anambra State governor.

Onitsha is one of the major cities in Anambra, Nigeria’s Southeast.

The post by Mr Omokri on the X platform reads, “A person who could not fix Anambra State and who instead almost doubled the poverty rate of Anambra (please fact-check me) is promising to serve only one term as President and to fix Nigeria within those four years.

“Listen, if I fail mathematics in WAEC, would you not be a fool if you give me money to buy another WAEC form because I told you I can pass Additional Mathematics, which is more advanced?

“Under you, the World Health Organisation declared Onitsha the dirtiest city on planet Earth, and you say you want to “clean up” Nigeria. Ordinary Onitsha, you can’t clean up!

The post generated over 49k and more than 260 reposts, according to X analytics

Verification

FACTWATCH Nigeria conducted a simple Search on Google and the results led us to a report which disclosed that the World Health Organisation named Onitsha in Anambra State as the most polluted city in the world.

WHO, in its 2016 report on Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution, stated that a study of Onitsha’s water pollution found more than 100 petrol stations in the city, selling low-quality fuel, many rubbish dumps, fuel spills, along with high levels of arsenic, mercury, lead, copper, and iron in its water.

It noted that the city’s metal industries, private hospitals, and workshops were heavy polluters emitting chemical, hospital, and household waste and sewage.

Onitsha, with a population of of350,0000 as of 2016, tops the list in the WHO report, with a PM10 measure of 594. It is followed by Peshawar in Pakistan and Zabol in Iran.

In a statement, the global health body stated that more than 80 per cent of people living in urban areas were exposed to air quality levels that exceed WHO limits, while all regions of the world are affected, populations in low-income cities are the most impacted.

Read this report here and here.

In 2016, Chief Willie Obiano was the governor of Anambra State and NOT Peter Obi.

Mr Obiano took over from Peter Obi in 2014.

Under the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Obiano ruled Anambra from 2014 till 2022.

Conclusion

In his quest to continue to criticize the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Omokri made a MISLEADING claim.