By Quadri Yahya
Claim
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party made several claims in a widely broadcast television show on Voice of the People 90.3 FM.
The LP flag bearer made claims about the poverty rate in Nigeria and commented on the ongoing universities strike.
Verdicts
While one of the claims is incorrect, the other claim is false.
Full Text
On the 13th of August, 2022, Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party appeared on a TV show organised by Voice of the People 90.3 FM.
The show, which hosted the LP flag bearer, was to discuss Peter Obi’s plans for the Nigerian nation and its populace if Peter Obi emerged winner in the 2023 general election.
The widely televised show was viewed by over 28 thousand people in about 24 hours.
During the interview, when the presidential candidate was asked about his plan to steer the affairs of the country, Peter Obi recalls how corrupt politicians have pushed many people into poverty.
In his words, the LP candidate said:
After 24 years, the people we hired have thrown millions of people into poverty. In 1999, when this journey started, about 60 million Nigerians or thereabout were living in poverty. Twenty-four years later, they doubled the number of poor people.
Also in the interview, Peter Obi, while commenting on the structure LP has to see him emerge as a winner in the 2023 election, he said:
For me, the structure we have today is, we have over 100 (and something) million people living in poverty.
Verification
Checks by FactCheckElection on the different poverty levels statistics quoted by Peter Obi showed that the presidential candidate is wrong.
Although no statistics in particular to check the veracity of the 1999 data quoted by Peter Obi. However, reports by the National Bureau of Statistics (2003-04 & 2009-10) put the number of poor Nigerians at 82.9 million.
The World Bank measures extreme poverty as the number of people living on less than US$1.90 per day.
On March 30, 2022, the World Bank projected that the number of poor people in Nigeria will reach 95.1 million this year.
However, in June 2022, the World Poverty Clock estimated the number of Nigerians living in extreme poverty to be 83 million.
Meanwhile, findings revealed that Peter Obi had made similar claims on national television which had been debunked sometime in July.
Claim 2
“I hear somebody saying that the only university that’s not on strike today is Anambra State University because of what Peter Obi did” – Peter Obi.
The LP flag bearer claimed while answering questions on the state of the education sector in the country.
The claim, also posted by Jubril A. Gawat (@Mr_JAGs), has been circulating on Twitter and has garnered 375 retweets, 158 quote tweets and 858 likes.
The statement by the LP presidential candidate has generated a reaction from an official of the Lagos State government.
Gboyega Akosile, the Chief Press Secretary to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, both from the All Progressives Congress, berated Peter Obi for making a false claim.
Akosile, who took to his Twitter handle, said, contrary to Obi’s claim, other universities are still in session despite the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
Akosile wrote, “Dear Mr. @PeterObi, why do you lie with ease? There are several Universities that aren’t on strike- Lagos State University @LASUOfficial, Kaduna State University, Kwara State University, Rivers State University, Osun State University, Kogi State University etc are in session.”
Verification
Checks by FactCheckElection showed that most state-owned universities are not on strike as the federal government-owned institutions.
Conclusions
While the statistics on poverty level made by Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party has been debunked several times, the LP flag bearer repeatedly quoted incorrect statistics.
The second claim is also false.