A video of Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, supporting Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in Nigeria, has been circulating on social media, especially WhatsApp.
The Voice TV NG, a YouTube channel presumed to be the first publisher of the now viral video, captioned it “World Richest Man, Elon Musk Pledge Support for Peter Obi Presidency, Promise to Work with Him”.
In the video, which has garnered over 8,000 views on YouTube, Elon Musk says he is happy with the Peter Obi campaign and will work with him in the future.
CLAIM: Elon Musk declared support for Peter Obi, saying, “I am so delighted with all the work with regards to Peter Obi’s campaign. The Nigerian youths have risen through the debris to take back their country. As someone I have great respect for, I will be working with him in the future by next (year).”
VERIFICATION: In the top right corner of the video posted on YouTube, there is an imprint of Elontalks.com, a website that uses artificial intelligence to make Elon Musk say anything in a video.
The website has several video templates that anyone can use. All one needs to do is type in the text field what they want Elon Musk to talk about, click on one of the video templates, create a video, wait for the video to be processed and then click the download button.
CONCLUSION: There’s no proof that Elon Musk has said anything about the candidacy of Peter Obi or endorsed the politician.
VERDICT: The video showing Elon Musk endorsing Peter Obi’s candidacy was doctored and the purported declaration of support is false.
Credit: FIJ
