The Nigeria Factcheckers’ Coalition (NFC) will be participating in the Arise News Presidential Town Hall Meeting scheduled for Sunday, November 13, 2022.
As part of its civic responsibility to counter disinformation in Nigeria, the coalition will conduct a live fact check of the claims and counterclaims of the presidential candidates during today’s town hall meeting.
Sunday’s event will feature Africa Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidates Omoyele Sowore; Democratic Action Party (ADP), Yabagi Sani; All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Peter Umeadi; and Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo.
Ajibola Amzat, editor of the International Center for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), described the public meetings as an important opportunity for candidates to share their thoughts with Nigerians.
“But we shouldn’t take it for granted that the information politicians will provide is the gospel. This is why the role of the Nigeria Factcheckers’ Coalition is crucial in the public meeting series,” he said.
For his part, Kemi Busari, the editor of Dubawa, expressed satisfaction with the contribution of the Nigerian Factcheckers’ Coalition so far.
“More and more, we see politicians being careful with their statements. It shows how many Nigerian fact checkers have done to enrich our democracy,” he said.
He added that the coalition is ready to provide important facts and will continuously help to curb the spread of lies, in order to provide citizens with accurate information needed to make political decisions.
NFC includes leading Nigerian newsrooms and think tanks such as TheCable, Africa Check, Center for Democracy and Development (CDD), Center for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), Daily Trust, Digital Africa Research Lab, Dubawa , FactCheckhub, FactsMatterNG, International Center for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Premium Times and The Insight.