FACT-CHECK: Did P.M. News Publish a 2006 Report Saying Peter Obi Was ‘Cured of Madness’?
A newspaper front page circulating on social media claims that P.M. News published a story in July 2006 reporting that then-Anambra State Governor Peter Obi had testified in church about being “cured of madness.”
The front page carries the headline, “How I was cured of Madness,” with a subheadline identifying Peter Obi as Anambra State governor and stating that he gave testimony in church.
The newspaper shown in the image is dated Monday, July 17, 2006, and is labelled Volume 12, No. 126.
Shemariah Media investigated the claim to determine whether the newspaper report can be independently verified.
Searches for the exact headline and combinations of the reported date, publication, volume number and Peter Obi did not produce an accessible archive of the July 17, 2006 edition of P.M. News confirming the specific front page.
There is, however, evidence that the phrase “How I Was Cured Of Madness” has circulated online in connection with another Nigerian politician, former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode.
A Nairaland post titled “Throwback: How I Was Cured Of Madness – Femi Fani-Kayode” contains a claim that Fani-Kayode gave a testimony in church about being cured of madness. The post does not establish that the Peter Obi newspaper image is genuine, but the similarity raises questions about the provenance of the image.
The fact that Peter Obi was governor of Anambra State at the time shown on the newspaper is not, by itself, evidence that the report is genuine. Obi became governor in March 2006, meaning that the July 2006 date shown on the image is chronologically possible.
However, Shemariah Media has not located a contemporaneous digital archive, library scan, or independent newspaper record that confirms that P.M. News published the specific headline about Peter Obi on July 17, 2006.
It is therefore not possible, based on the evidence currently available, to establish that the viral newspaper image is an authentic P.M. News front page.
VERDICT: UNVERIFIED.
The viral image should not be presented as established evidence that Peter Obi publicly testified that he was “cured of madness.” More archival evidence would be required to authenticate the newspaper page and the report attributed to it.
