By Pascal Ibe
Introduction
On 29 October, a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, to immediately stop presenting himself as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Imo West Senatorial election slated for January 16, 2027.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu issued the order after holding that Uzodinma did not win the May 18 primary election conducted by the APC and monitored by INEC.
Delivering judgment, the Judge held that the evidence presented before the court proved that former governor Rochas Okorocha actually won the majority of the votes cast at the poll and should be declared the winner of the election.
However, Uzodimma rejected the judgment and has since appealed the judgment.
Many Nigerians later accused Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory, of influencing the court judgment on Uzodimma. However, Wike denied the allegation.
Claim
As the political dispute between Uzodimma and Okorocha continues to heat up, an X user, @arinzecajet001, shared (archived here) a video of the two politicians and claimed that “Governor Hope Uzodimma and the former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, have thrown away their differences and reconciled.
The X user asked what the fate of Wike would be after the alleged reconciliation by Okorocha and Uzodimma.
He wrote, “There’s another political regrouping between Hope and Oshiomhole. Oshiomhole is a serious political foe to the current Senate President, Sen. Godswill Ogbodo Akpabio. Akpabio has always shut down Oshiomhole each time he wanted to make meaningful contributions on the floor of the red chamber and sees Adams as a potential threat to his seat as the Senate President.”
Comments from people on the post showed that many actually believe that the video was recent.
See comments here, here and here.
Verification
First, FACTWATCH Nigeria watched the video from beginning to end and found some keywords said by Governor Uzodimma to Okorocha.
The keywords, “I don catch you na”, which was said by Uzodimma to Okorocha in the video, were typed into Google and the results indicated that the video was from January 2020.
We discovered that the video was from when Uzodimma received his certificate of return from the Independent National Electoral Commission after he emerged as the governor of Imo State following a Supreme Court judgment that year.
A Facebook page and some news websites reported the video in 2020 here, here and here.
As of 5 November, there is no credible news organisation in Nigeria that has confirmed the reconciliation of Okorocha and Uzodimma.
Also, FACTWATCH Nigeria has observed that the online attacks on Okorocha by Uzodimma aides have continued.
Verdict
Findings showed that the video used to depict the reconciliation of Okorocha and Uzodimma amid their political dispute, was from January 2020 and NOT recent. Therefore, the claim is FALSE.
