TD I accompanied His Excellency Peter Obi on his United Kingdom trip and was present when he made the remarks now being misrepresented by some media organisations.
Let me state this clearly: Peter Obi never told Nigerians in the diaspora to stop sending money to their relatives in Nigeria. That claim is false.
His message was that Nigerians abroad should not stop at sending money home.
They should also encourage their relatives and others back home to get involved in the process of changing the country.
There is a fundamental difference between “do not stop at sending money” and “stop sending money.”
Presenting one as the other changes the meaning of what was said. I Heard the Remarks, and We Have the Full Video.
I am not responding on the basis of hearsay or a second-hand account.
I was there. I heard his remarks, and Njenje Media has the full video.
The disputed coverage leaves out the crucial part in which he encouraged diaspora Nigerians to urge those at home to get involved.
His appeal was for engagement beyond financial assistance, not for Nigerians abroad to abandon their families or withdraw support.
That context is central to his message.
Removing it and presenting the remarks as an instruction to stop sending money home gives the public a false account.
Media Houses Must Do Better
Media organisations that published or repeated this claim owe their audiences an apology and a correction.
Did they review the complete recording before publishing? If they did not, that is a failure of verification.
If they reviewed it and still omitted the part that explains his message, that raises serious questions about their editorial integrity.
Neither possibility should be brushed aside.
A headline must accurately represent the substance of a speaker’s remarks, not create an entirely different narrative for the sake of attention.
I condemn this misrepresentation and urge the organisations concerned to review the full video held by Njenje Media.
They must correct their reports and give the correction appropriate prominence. Nigerians deserve accurate reporting.
Media houses must not sacrifice that responsibility for sensational headlines, or paid political mudslinging.
Maazi Tochukwu Ezeoke is the MD/CEO, Njenje Media, Headmaster, Village Boys Movement.
