By Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition (NFC).
THE Nigeria Debate Consortium, a series of debates for the 2027 general elections in Nigeria, began on Sunday with the Lagos State governorship debate featuring candidates from four parties out of the 17 political parties announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The debate provides a credible, non-partisan platform for participating candidates to present their agendas, defend their policy choices and respond to questions on the issues that matter most to residents, especially the electorate.
The Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition (NFC) brings you fact-checks from the live debate aired on Channels TV and TVC News as we monitor and combat false or manipulated narratives amid preparations for Nigeria’s 2027 general election.
Our team of journalists, researchers, fact-checkers, social media monitors, editors, and OSINT experts drawn from the coalition’s partner-organisations, are working tirelessly to debunk claims from the debates.
Do you have an election-related claim you want us to fact-check?
Reach out to the NFC via WhatsApp here or email us via: nigerianfactcheckerscoalition@gmail.com
This page is constantly being updated with verified information. Kindly scroll downward or refresh this page to latest checks.
CLAIM 1
CLAIM: Funso Doherty, the governorship candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in Lagos State, claimed that Lagos State generates more internally generated revenue than 31 other Nigerian states combined.
FINDINGS:
A review of the National Bureau of Statistics’ (NBS) 2025 Internally Generated Revenue at State Level Report, released on 24 September 2026, shows that Lagos State generated ₦1,769,194,412,060.40 (approximately ₦1.77 trillion) in internally generated revenue in 2025.
A comparison of the NBS figures shows that Lagos generated more revenue than the combined ₦1.733 trillion recorded by the 31 states with the lowest IGR figures.
VERDICT: CORRECT
SOURCES: National Bureau of Statistics, Joint Revenue Board, Channels, Premium Times
DATE PUBLISHED: 08/11/2026.
AUTHOR: Amarachi Onwuzulike
EDITOR(S) Bamas Victoria & Opeyemi
CLAIM 2
CLAIM: The Lagos State Governorship candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Deko Funso Doherty, claimed that Lagos State’s total approved budget was over ₦3 trillion in 2025 and over ₦4 trillion in 2026.
FINDINGS: A review of the Lagos State Government’s official budget publications confirms that the state’s approved budget for 2025 was ₦3,366,815,224,143.85 (approximately ₦3.37 trillion).
The budget was officially signed into law as the “Budget of Sustainability” by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Similarly, the Lagos State House of Assembly approved a total budget of ₦4,444,509,776,438 (approximately ₦4.44 trillion) for the 2026 fiscal year, this was reported by the Punch Newspaper and contained on the Lagos State House of Assembly website.
The budget was officially signed into law by Governor Sanwo-Olu as the “Budget of Shared Prosperity.
VERDICT: CORRECT
SOURCES: Lagos State Government website, Lagos State House of Assembly website, Punch Newspaper
DATE PUBLISHED: 08/11/2026.
AUTHOR: Pascal Ibe
EDITOR(S): Lois Ugbede & Bamas Victoria
CLAIM 3
CLAIM: The All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate for Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, claimed that the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority law was passed in 2025.
FINDINGS: Templars report that the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority law was passed on Feb. 7, 2022, after Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu signed it into law.
G. Elias and Co. also reported that the law, also known as the LASERERA Law, was passed on Feb. 7, 2022, and repealed the Lagos State Estate Agency Regulatory Authority Law, Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria (LSLN) 2015, referred to as the “Old Law.”
VERDICT: MISLEADING.
SOURCES: Templars, G. Elias and Co.
DATE PUBLISHED: 08/11/2026.
AUTHOR: Cole Praise
EDITOR(S): Lois Ugbede & Bamas Victoria
CLAIM 4
CLAIM: The All Progressives Congress Lagos State governorship candidate Obafemi Hamzat claimed that no railway in any African country has been funded by the private sector.
FINDINGS: The Nigerian Fact-Checkers Coalition found that private companies have funded and built railways in Africa. In South Africa, private company Bombela helped finance, build and operate the Gautrain through a public-private partnership.
In Angola, a group of companies led by Trafigura secured a 30-year contract to run the Lobito railway, committing US$455 million to upgrade it .
In Mozambique and Malawi, Brazilian mining company Vale and Japanese company Mitsui invested in the Nacala railway project. Mitsui committed US$313 million towards the railway and port infrastructure.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCES: Gautrain management Agency, Trafigura, UNCTAD Angola Sustainable Freight Transport Assessment, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
DATE PUBLISHED: 08/11/2026.
AUTHOR: Catherine Adeniyi
EDITOR(S): Lois Ugbede & Bamas Victoria
CLAIM 5
CLAIM: The Lagos State Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Adedeji Olugbemiga Doherty, claimed that Lagos State has over 160 MDAs.
FINDINGS: The Nigerian Fact-Checkers’ Coalition (NFC) accessed Lagos State’s government website and found that it lists 152 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), while another Lagos government’s subdomain (Citizens Gate webpage) shows 158 MDAs.
The state government officials have, however, reported a larger number of MDAs. In May 22, 2026, the Finance Commissioner, Abayomi Oluyomi, said Lagos State Public Procurement Agency added 10 MDAs to the e-Government Procurement platform, bringing the total number of agencies on the system to 169 between 2025 and 2026.
A week earlier, the Lagos State Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Tubosun Alake, also said that Lagos had 211 MDAs, according to a Vanguard report published on May 14, 2026.
Although there are discrepancies in reported figures and directory listings, officials of the state have consistently put the figure at over 160.
VERDICT: CORRECT
SOURCES: Lagos State Government websites, Vanguard and Nigerian Tribune.
DATE PUBLISHED: 08/11/2026.
AUTHOR: Muktar Balogun
EDITOR(S): Lois Ugbede & Opeyemi Kehinde
CLAIM 6
CLAIM: The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Adedeji Doherty, claimed that Lagos State has a population of 25 million.
FINDINGS: A review of available population estimates reveals multiple figures for Lagos State, depending on the source, geographical coverage and projection methodology.
According to World Population Review, Lagos’s 2026 population is estimated at 14,881,845.
On the other hand, the Lagos State Government’s Medium-Term Expenditure Framework for 2026–2028 (pg 25) cites data from the Lagos Bureau of Statistics estimating the state’s population at 31.91 million in 2025.
It is important to note that Nigeria has not conducted a national population census since 2006. Consequently, contemporary population figures are estimates or projections rather than confirmed census counts. In 1991, the population of Lagos was 5,725,116.
VERDICT: INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
SOURCES: World Population Review, Lagos Bureau of Statistics
DATE PUBLISHED: 08/11/2026.
AUTHOR: Pascal Ibe
EDITOR(S): Lois Ugbede, Bamas Victoria & Opeyemi Kehinde
Seasoned writer and literary curator, Zainab Abdulrasaq is a factchecker for The FactCheckHub in an effort to combat information disorder. She can be reached on IG @blackbookishgirl or zabdulrasaq@icirnigeria.org
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