Festus Keyamo, SAN, the minister of state for labor and productivity, has denied ever claiming that Nigeria’s inflation rate was lower than that of other nations, such as the United States and Canada.
Keyamo was responding to the Daily Trust newspaper’s fact-checking of his claim that Nigeria is performing better than the USA and some other major nations in terms of the percentage increase in inflation over the past few years.
Part of his claim, according to the report, is false.
Keyamo claimed that Nigeria fared better than the United States, Canada, Russia, Spain, and other countries in terms of how inflation is increasing while appearing on Channel’s TV program “Politics Today.”
According to Keyamo, Nigeria’s rise in inflation was just a five percent increase from 2020 when the world was under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic as against other countries across the world, which had their inflation rate increase by a percentage that is way higher than that of Nigeria.
Taking to his verified personal Twitter handle, @fkeyamo, Keyamo expressed his displeasure, saying the fact-checker was wrong.
“I was fact-checked by Daily Trust on my claim that Nigeria is doing better than USA and some major countries as to the percentage rise of inflation in the last few years and found out to be true. But I never said that Nigeria’s inflation figure is lower. The fact-checker was wrong!” he said.
While stating the outcome of the fact-checking, Daily Trust said verification from figures by the World Bank and the statistics of the countries Keyamo mentioned, it found out that the percentage rise in inflation in Nigeria is relatively low compared to countries such as the USA, Canada, and Spain. It, therefore, concluded that Keyamo’s claim in that aspect is true.
However, part of the verification of his claim showed that Nigeria’s inflation figures at double-digit are having a significant effect on the economy compared to other countries cited. The report concluded that Keyamo’s claim is false