THE year 2024 is marked by a flurry of claims from Nigerian public figures, spanning diverse topics such as politics, economics, and sports. With the growing prevalence of misinformation, public statements by prominent individuals have increasingly come under scrutiny.
Prominent among the fact-checked individuals this year was President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whose statements on Nigeria’s population, economic policies, and national developments were analyzed at least three times. Other influential individuals, including Adedeji Adeleke, Dino Melaye, and Lauretta Onochie, also made headlines with claims that turned out to be MISLEADING, FALSE, or UNPROVEN following our thorough investigation.
This report highlights some of the most prominent fact-checks conducted by The FactCheckHub in 2024 where notable Nigerians either misrepresented facts or propagated outright falsehoods. This list is in no particular order.
1. Bola Tinubu
Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is the top on our list having got fact-checked on at least three different occasions this year.
The first was during an early morning nationwide broadcast on Monday, October 1, 2024. President Tinubu had shared updates on the nation’s progress, economic outlook, and security measures as Nigeria celebrated its 64th anniversary.
In this report, we fact-checked some of Tinubu’s claims using verifiable data and official sources. Out of the nine claims analysed by The FactCheckHub, six were TRUE, while three were either MISLEADING or FALSE.
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Also, following the nationwide protests that rocked Nigeria over economic hardship, President Tinubu addressed citizens in the early hours of Sunday, August 4, 2024.
The FactCheckHub team monitored the Nigerian president’s broadcast on Channels TV and examined the veracity of his claims. Out of the six claims that we analysed, three were found to be TRUE, while the remaining three were either UNPROVEN or FALSE.
In March, Tinubu claimed that Nigeria’s population is over 240 million. He made the claim while speaking during the Nigeria-Qatar Business and Investment Forum in Doha held on March 3, 2024.
Our findings showed that his claim was FALSE, as Nigeria’s population is not up to that figure, according to data by Worldometre, UNFPA and the National Population Commission (NPC) as at then.
2. Adedeji Adeleke
In October, Nigerian billionaire, Adedeji Adeleke, the father of popular Nigerian music artiste, Davido said he is building a 1,250-megawatt thermal power plant which will also become the biggest thermal power plant in Nigeria.
He said it during the Seventh Day Adventist General Conference Annual Council in Maryland, United States of America (USA) on October 15, 2024.
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE. Publicly available data have shown that Egbin power station is the biggest thermal power plant in Nigeria at 1,320MW; this therefore means a 1,250MW power plant cannot be said to be the biggest.
3. Dino Melaye
In August, a former Nigerian lawmaker, Dino Melaye, posted on X footage that shows the Nigerian athlete, Tobi Amusan, partaking in a race alongside a claim that she won two gold medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics in France.
Our findings showed that the claim was MISLEADING, as the footage posted by Melaye has been online since July 2022.
Also in April, Melaye shared footage of a sitting of the Federal Executive Council with the claim that the Federal Government of Nigeria has scrapped some parastatals and agencies alike.
According to him, the agencies scrapped include the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
Our findings showed that only PTAD and NSSEC are to be scrapped, according to the Oronsaye Report while others are yet to be merged or subsumed as announced by the Nigerian government in February 2024.
4. Dele Momodu
In August, a prominent Nigerian journalist and publisher, Dele Momodu, posted an aerial video that shows a large crowd protesting on a busy street to depict the August nationwide protest in Niger State.
Our findings showed that the claim is MISLEADING, as the video is from a protest in Kenya held in June 2024 over the proposed tax bill.
5. Shehu Sani
In March, a former federal lawmaker, Shehu Sani, claimed that Nigeria is the only country without a museum in its capital city.
Our findings showed that Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja has several museum centres which serve as a hub of tourism and attractions for visitors from across the country and beyond its borders. They include Thought Pyramid Art Centre and Discovery Museum in the nation’s capital, among others.
6. Daniel Bwala
In February, Daniel Bwala, who is now a Special Adviser to President Tinubu shared a press release from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stating that the apex bank would convict any individual transacting with foreign currency.
Our findings showed that the press release was published on July 4, 2015 and not this year.
7. Ali Ndume
The Nigerian Senate Majority Chief Whip, Ali Ndume, claimed that Nigeria has only 200,000 armed forces personnel across the country.
Ndume stated this on January 23, 2024 while speaking on the country’s security situation during an interview on Channels TV’s programme, Politics Today.
Our findings, based on data obtained from the Global Fire Power (GFP) website, which was last updated on January 9, 2024, showed that Nigeria has an estimated total military personnel of 280,000, while the number of active military personnel stood at 230,000. These figures are higher than the figure quoted by Senator Ndume.
8. Lauretta Onochie
In September, a former Presidential aide, Lauretta Onochie, posted a photo showing a woman arrested by Police with a claim that it shows Canada-based Nigerian woman, Amaka Sonnberger, who threatened to poison Yoruba and Benin people living in the North American country on TikTok.
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Our findings showed that the claim is MISLEADING, as the woman in the photo is Nikema Williams, a Georgia State lawmaker, when she was arrested during a protest in 2018.
Williams (D-Atlanta) was arrested by Capitol police during a protest over election ballot counts in the rotunda of the state capitol building on November 13, 2018, in Atlanta, USA.
9. Babajide Sanwo-Olu
The Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu made multiple false claims regarding his achievements as governor since 2019 during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on October 16, 2024.
Sanwo-Olu said Lagos is recording 90-94 per cent budget performance year in and year out but our findings showed that the state’s yearly budget has consistently fallen below that range. He also said Lagos state budget has tripled from about N620 billion to N2.3 trillion in 5 years which was also found to be FALSE.
10. Charly Boy
Finally, on this list is a Nigerian musician, Charles Oputa also known as Charly Boy. He posted a video allegedly showing the looting of a warehouse during the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests in Nigeria.
Our findings showed that the claim is MISLEADING, as the video has been online since March 2024 and showed mobs who broke into a government storage facility in Gwagwa area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on March 3, 2024 and looted stored food items.
Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
