The presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Abiola Kolawole and his running mate, Zego Haruna, are on the town hall series by Daria Media Limited.
The series, tagged “The Candidates”, provides a platform for the candidates to address national issues ahead of the February 25, 2023, general election.
The programme, anchored by Nigerian journalist, Kadaria Ahmed, is supported by the MacArthur Foundation, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), and YouTube.
DUBAWA, a member of the Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition (NCF), will be involved in live fact-checking of claims made by the candidates.
Claims made by the candidates and fact-check reports are presented below:
Claim 1
Claim: Presidential candidate, Kola Abiola, claims the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) is the oldest party in Nigeria.
Finding
The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) was formed by Aminu Kano in 1978 after his withdrawal from the National Party of Nigeria. Created alongside four others, PRP is the oldest political party compared to the 17 other parties in Nigeria registered by INEC for the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
Verdict: CORRECT
Source: PRP website, The Guardian report
Date: 22/11/2022
Claim 2
Claim: Kola Abiola, on Daria Media town hall, said Nigeria has “an informal sector that is 60% of our economy.”
Finding
The most recent GDP report by the National Bureau of Statistics, which differentiated the formal and informal sectors, covered 2015. It puts the share of the informal sector at 41.43%. In 2017, the IMF estimated that the informal sector contributed 65% of Nigeria’s GDP.
Verdict: False
Source: National Bureau of Statistics, IMF
Date: 22/11/2022
