The stage is set for four presidential candidates contesting the February 25 presidential election to debate.
These candidates are expected to participate in the second edition of ARISE News Presidential Town Hall series.
The presidential candidates are Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress, Yabagi Sani of the Action Democratic Party, Peter Umeadi of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, and Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party.
This edition focused on security, and the economy will commence at 7 pm on Sunday, November 13, 2022.
DUBAWA, alongside other members of the Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition, is set to do a live fact-check of the debate.
Claims made by the candidates and their fact-checks are presented below:
Claim: Mr Sowore said all countries that are doing well economically, their citizens usually don’t use guns.
Finding
We used two countries with high GDP per capita to fact-check this claim. For instance, the US, with a GDP per capita of $69,287, has a gun per citizen rate of 120.5 per 100 persons. With a GDP per capita of $52,051, Canada has a gun per citizen rate of 34.7 per 100 persons. On the hand, Nigeria is a GDP per Capita of $2,085 and a gun per citizen rate of 3.2 per 100 persons.
Verdict: False
Source: World Bank
Date: 13/ 11/ 2022
Claim: Prof Umeadi claimed eleven states in the north had not domesticated the Child Rights Act.
Finding
News Reports by Tribune reveal that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in May 2022 and the United Nations International Children Education Fund (UNICEF) in August 2022 indicate that 31 states in Nigeria have so far enacted the Child Rights Act. However, only five states are yet to domesticate the law. The five are; Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Kano, and Zamfara.
Verdict: False
Source: UNICEF and Ministry of Women Affairs
Date: 13/ 11/ 2022
Claim: Mr Sowore claimed that oil companies owe Nigeria $6.4billion.
Finding
News reports by ThisDay and The Cable in September 2022 quoted Ogbonnaya Orji, the Executive Secretary and National Coordinator of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), as saying the outstanding taxes and fees from the oil companies as of March 2022 is $2.674 billion, not $6.4billion which was the figure in 2019.
Verdict: False
Source: NEITI
Date: 13/ 11/ 2022
