BY: Mustapha Lawal
Claim
A Video circulating claimed that Senator Adams Oshiomhole said that President Tinubu’s reckless policies are responsible for the country’s current hardship.
Verdict
Misleading! While it is true that the former governor and current senator, Adams Oshiomhole indeed commented on the current economic hardships Nigerians face. However, he attributes these difficulties primarily to the policies of former President Muhammadu Buhari rather than Bola Tinubu.
Full-Text
Earlier this month at the first edition of Prof. Emeka Umerah’s Annual Public Lecture tagged:” Nigeria Yesterday, Today and a Prosperous Future” held in Abuja, former governor of Edo State and senator representing Edo North Senatorial District, Adams Oshiomhole delivered a speech alongside other prominent Nigerians.
In his speech, the senator, who is also a chieftain of the APC shared his views on the issue of the country’s policies and the current hardship. Following the event, various comments and claims emanated on social media using snippets and cuts from the video of the former governor.
One such claim is one made by X-Daily (with the user handle @X_Dailly) quoting Adams Oshiomhole to have claimed “Tinubu reckless policies responsible for current hardship”.
Nigeria is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis in a generation, leading to widespread hardship and anger. According to a report by Reuters, Africa’s largest economy is grappling with the worst cost of living crisis in decades and has deepened since President Bola Tinubu introduced bold but unpopular economic reforms after he assumed office last May.
Like many nations, Nigeria has experienced economic shocks from beyond its shores in recent years, Inflation has soared in many countries, as fuel and other costs spiked as a result of the war in Ukraine. But President Tinubu’s efforts to remodel the economy have also added to the burden. One other factor that is pushing up inflation is an issue that Tinubu inherited from his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, financial analyst Tilewa Adebajo told BBC News. The previous government had asked the country’s central bank for short-term loans to cover spending amounting to $19bn, which contributed to inflation.
FactCheckAfrica decided to work on the claim that “Oshiomhole called Tinubu’s policies reckless and described them as being responsible for the current hardship in the country” to set the records straight.
Verification
FactCheckAfrica researched and found a longer version (full speech of Adams Oshiomhole) of a 6-minute cut video clip attached to the claim on YouTube via a reverse image search. The 36 minutes video posted on the SYMFONI YouTube Channel with the title “Tinubu Is Behaving Like He Doesn’t Want 2ND Term – Oshiomhole Speaks On Nigeria’s Worsening Economy”, provided further context on the claim.
Upon watching the full coverage of the speech delivered by the senator, FactCheckAfrica found that he indeed made comments about the current economic hardships Nigerians are facing. However, he attributes these difficulties primarily to the policies of former President Muhammadu Buhari rather than Bola Tinubu.
Quoting the words of the Senator, he said: “For us to secure the future, we must interrogate the immediate past.’’ His major emphasis in the video was on how leaders adopt policies from international bodies and agencies without considering the nuances and specific context of the country’s situation. “In Nigeria, our people will go to the World Bank and they will tell us who we are. We are supposed to define who we are and not foreigners. And until we go back to this home-grown policy and damn the consequences of the world, because they are going to fight us, we will have problems.” Oshiomhole emphasised.
The result from the FactCheckAfrica AI tool, MyAIFactChecker, also revealed that the statement in the claim is misquoted.
Also, a News report from the event by Vanguard newspaper with the headline “Oshiomhole, Amadi, Umerah drum support for Tinubu’s govt” suggests the claim to be misleading.
Speaking variously while assessing the one-year federal administration of President Tinubu at the first edition of Prof. Emeka Umerah’s Annual Public Lecture, held in Abuja, insisted that despite the nation’s current multi-dimensional challenges, there is light at the end of the tunnel and unanimously agreed that a better Nigeria was on the way. They however called on the nation’s leadership to carry out programmes and policies that tailored towards citizens’ needs”, the news report says.
Conclusion
Misleading! The claim is misquoted from the senator’s speech at the event. While it is true that Adams Oshiomhole indeed made comments about the current economic hardships Nigerians are facing, he was referring to the policies of former President Buhari, not Bola Tinubu.
Oshiomhole has insisted that Tinubu should not be blamed for the difficulties that Nigeria is currently facing, stating that these are the long-term consequences of policies from Buhari’s administration.’’
Edited by Habeeb Adisa
