FACT CHECK: Has Wike defected to Labour party as claimed?

A post on a website called Sahara news claimed that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has defected to Labour Party.  The caption stated that “Governor Nyesom Wike joins Labour Party says he will support his brother Peter Obi” However, on the website a video was attached to the headline with no text to support […]

A post on a website called Sahara news claimed that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has defected to Labour Party. 

The caption stated that “Governor Nyesom Wike joins Labour Party says he will support his brother Peter Obi”

However, on the website a video was attached to the headline with no text to support the claim.

Verification

Daily Trust checks revealed that the post is misleading. After following the link to the post, it appeared that the headline is false and the video attached was an old clip of Wike. However, the original video was muted for some minutes and a background voice was heard endorsing Peter Obi and ridiculing other candidates and politicians.
The voice also mentioned that Wike is angry.

It dded that “Peter Obi is the person, if you love Nigeria and the success of Nigeria and be prosperous like other countries then you should be behind Peter Obi, his vision is very clear. This guy is not like other politicians that have been in office embezzling funds who do not think about the masses.”

He went ahead to say he saw many posts suggesting that Wike had joined Labour Party because Atiku did not pick him as his vice president for the upcoming 2023 elections.

Conclusion

Daily Trust can confirm that the claim that Wike has joined the Labour Party is misleading. Neither Wike nor the party has made a statement to that effect.