By Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition
The Nigeria Debate Consortium (Channels Television, TVC News, The PUNCH, TheCable, and Vanguard) held a governorship debate on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, ahead of the Feb. 6, 2026 election.
The debate, held at The Hub by IALA in Marwa, Lagos, brought together Obafemi Hamzat, the incumbent Deputy Governor representing the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (GRV) of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Funso Doherty of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and Deji Doherty of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Nigeria Fact-Checker’s Coalition monitored the debate, identified claims, and investigated their veracity. Below are some of the verified claims.
CLAIM 1
CLAIM: The Lagos State Governorship candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), 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).
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu officially signed the budget into law as the ‘Budget of Sustainability’.
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, as reported by Punch Newspaper and posted on the Lagos State House website.
The budget was officially signed into law by Governor Sanwo-Olu as the “Budget of Shared Prosperity.
VERDICT: CORRECT
SOURCE: Lagos State Government website, Lagos State House of Assembly website, Punch Newspaper
DATE: 8/11/2026.
AUTHOR: Pascal Ibe.
EDITOR(S): Lois Ugbede & Bamas Victoria.
CLAIM 2
CLAIM: The Lagos State Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Adedeji Olugbemiga Doherty, claims Lagos State has over 160 MDAs.
FINDINGS:
The Nigerian Fact-Checkers’ Coalition (NFC) accessed Lagos State’s government website and found 152 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), while another Lagos government subdomain (Citizens Gate webpage) shows 158 MDAs.
State government officials, however, have reported more MDAs. On May 22, 2026, Finance Commissioner Abayomi Oluyomi said the 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, Lagos State Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology Tubosun Alake also said Lagos had 211 MDAs, according to a Vanguard report published on May 14, 2026.
Although reported figures and directory listings differ, state officials have consistently put the figure at over 160.
VERDICT: CORRECT
SOURCES: Lagos State Govt websites, Vanguard and Nigerian Tribune.
DATE: 8/11/2026
AUTHOR: Muktar Balogun
EDITOR(S): Opeyemi Kehinde & Lois Ugbede
CLAIM 3
CLAIM: The All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate for Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, claims the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority law was passed in 2025.
FINDING
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
SOURCE: Templars, G. Elias and Co.
DATE: 8/11/2026
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.
SOURCE: Gautrain Management Agency, Trafigura, UNCTAD Angola Sustainable Freight Transport Assessment, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
DATE: 08/11/2026
AUTHOR: Catherine Adeniyi
EDITOR(S): Lois Ugbede & Bamas Victoria
CLAIM 5
CLAIM: Funso Doherty, the governorship candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), claimed that the Lagos State internally generated revenue is more than that of 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 Sept. 24, 2026, reported that Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) generated a combined ₦5.15 trillion in internally generated revenue (IGR) in 2025. This represents a 40.93 per cent increase from the ₦3.65 trillion recorded in 2024.
Premium Times reported that Lagos State recorded the highest IGR, generating ₦1.77 trillion, comprising approximately ₦1.48 trillion in tax revenue and ₦292.64 billion from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
To establish whether Lagos generated more revenue than 31 other states combined, the Nigerian Fact-Checkers’ Coalition (NFC) examined the state-by-state figures published by the Joint Revenue Board (JRB) on Sept. 28, 2026.
The 31 states included in the comparison are Edo, Oyo, Kano, Akwa Ibom, Kwara, Kaduna, Abia, Jigawa, Niger, Katsina, Ondo, Cross River, Ekiti, Anambra, Osun, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Plateau, Gombe, Kogi, Imo, Borno, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Kebbi, Zamfara, Benue, Taraba, Sokoto, Ebonyi and Yobe.
The comparison excludes the five highest-earning states: Lagos, Rivers, Enugu, Ogun and Delta, as well as the FCT.
Our calculation showed that these 31 states collectively generated approximately ₦1.573,968,541,331.73 trillion in IGR in 2025, while Lagos alone generated approximately ₦1.77 trillion, exceeding their combined revenue.
VERDICT: CORRECT
SOURCE: National Bureau of Statistics, Joint Revenue Board, Channels, Premium Times
DATE: 8/11/2026
AUTHOR: Amarachi Onwuzulike
EDITOR(S) Bamas Victoria & Opeyemi Kehinde
CLAIM 6
CLAIM: The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Adedeji Doherty, claims 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: 8/11/2026
AUTHOR: Pascal Ibe
EDITOR(S): Lois Ugbede, Bamas Victoria & Opeyemi Kehinde
