To keep politicians accountable at the vice-presidential and presidential debate, TheCable is live-checking the supposed facts and figures being bandied by those seeking the highest offices in the land.

The participating parties are; Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Young Progressives Party (YPP).

Peter Obi of the PDP, and APC’s Yemi Osinbajo are debating alongside Ganiyu Galadima of ACPN, Khadijah Abdullahi of ANN and Umma Abdullahi-Getso of YPP.

CLAIM BY OBI: There are about two million vehicles in Nigeria.

CHECKED: False. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria has a total vehicle population of about 11,547,236 as at the third quarter of 2017.

CLAIM BY OSINBAJO: Bag of fertiliser now sells for N6,000 to N7,000.

CHECKED: Largely correct. Price of fertiliser has experienced a drastic drop following the Nigeria-Morroco fertiliser deal. As at 2016, a bag of fertiliser sold above N10,000

CLAIM BY OBI: Nigeria has fallen on the global competitive index from 124 to 127.

CHECKED: False. According to the latest (2018) World Economic Forum, Nigeria rose on the index by 10 places. Obi’s stance was true in 2016.

CLAIM BY OBI: Total loans from the banks in Nigeria is N19trn and only 0.5% goes to SMEs

CHECKED: Unverified.

CLAIM BY OSINBAJO: There is a tax threshold for SMEs, SMEs get to a level before they pay taxes

CHECKED: Verification in progress.

CLAIM BY OBI: Nigeria’s foreign direct investment for 2015 was $21bn, while it fell to $12bn in 2017.

CHECKED: Partly False. According to NBS capital importation reports, Nigeria’s total imported capital stood at $9.6 billion in 2015, and $12.3 billion in 2017. Perhaps Obi meant 2014, when Nigeria’s total capital imported stood at $20.7 billion.

CLAIM BY GALADIMA: AFCTA will not benefit Nigeria

CHECKED: Cannot be proven by facts.

CLAIM BY OBI: African trade today is less than 9 percent

CHECKED: False. According to Afriexim Bank, Intra-Africa trade is around 15 percent. In 2016, intra-African exports made up 18 percent of total exports according to Brookings Institution.

CLAIM BY OSINBAJO: Nigeria went down by 64 places under PDP, but has risen by 24 places under APC

CHECKED: True and False. Nigeria went down from 120 to 170 between 2008 and 2015, under PDP rule. Under the APC, ease of doing business has risen from 170 in 2015 to 146 in 2018, according to the World Bank Ease of Doing Business report.

CLAIM BY OBI: Oil give you 80% of foreign exchange earnings

CHECKED: False. As at 2017 NBS figures showed that Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings from oil the oil sector stood above 90%.

CLAIM BY OBI: To bring out goods from Apapa cost more than it takes to bring goods from Europe

CHECKED: Unverified

CLAIM BY GALADIMA: We have four refineries in Nigeria, and none is working.

CHECKED: Dicey. The refineries according to NNPC reports are working at sub-optimal levels. Not totally dysfunctional.

UMMA GESTO: Nigerian Airways was one of the largest in the world

Verification in progress

CLAIM BY OBI: Apple Inc’s market cap is bigger than the economy of Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt

CHECKED: Dicey. Apple’s market cap today is $788.57 billion. The economy of these three countries are bigger than Apple. When Apple was $1 trillion a few months ago, it was bigger in dollar terms.

Editor’s Note: This is a developing situation, the claim verification is an ongoing process. As soon as they are verified, they would be updated.

https://www.thecable.ng/live-fact-check-verifying-osinbajo-obi-vice-presidential-candidates-at-2019-poll-debate/amp?__twitter_impression=true