Olayinka Braimoh, the Action Alliance (AA) flag bearer for the forthcoming 2023 Kogi gubernatorial election, has made multiple claims ahead of the November 11 polls.
Braimoh was recently featured on national television, where he made claims bordering on the population and size of Kogi state and the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) recorded in the previous year.
While discussing his governorship bid and plans for the people of Kogi State if elected, he stated that Kogi State boasts a population of 4.4 million and covers a land area of 29,833 square kilometres, making it larger than the entire Southeast region of Nigeria combined. He also said that the State’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) was N18 billion Naira in 2022.
Claim I: Kogi State is bigger than the entire Southeast region of Nigeria
Verification
Kogi state is located in the North Central region of Nigeria, sharing borders with 10 other states. The states include the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Niger, Nassarawa, Kwara, Ekiti, Edo, Ondo, Anambra, Enugu, and Benue.
A report on the top 10 largest states in Nigeria by land mass, published by Legit NG in November 2022, puts the land area of Kogi state at 29,833 square kilometres. This is also stated on the official website of the Nigeria Police.
The Southeast region comprises five states: Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, and Imo. The combined land area of Imo, Ebonyi, and Abia is 17,520 square kilometres, as indicated on the Nigeria Police portal. Specifically, Imo covers 5,530 km², Ebonyi spans 5,620 km², and Abia encompasses 6,320 km². Anambra’s land area is 4,844 km², and Enugu occupies 7,161 km². By calculation, the total land mass of the Southeast region stands at 29,525 km².
Verdict: TRUE
The CDD War Room confirms that the land mass of Kogi state is a bit larger than the land area of the entire Southeast region.
Claim II: The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Kogi stood at N18 billion in 2022
Verification
The Kogi State 2022 Fourth Quarter Budget Performance Report, dated January 23, 2023, indicates that a total sum of N17,884,458,694.68 was generated from Internal Revenue (IGR) sources during the fiscal year 2022.
According to the report, the IGR performance was 76.9% by the end of the fourth quarter, while statutory revenue performance stood at 79.1%. The combined achievement of FAAC and IGR was 78.6%.
The total revenue achieved in the year under review amounted to N144,064,937,275.
“Out of this amount, the sum of N17,884,458,694.68 came from Internally Generated Revenue Sources. The low performance of IGR can be attributed to obsolete revenue laws domicile in State MDAs, N71,226,944,677.84 came from Federal Transfer while N33,418,564,673.52 came from Capital Receipts,” part of the report stated.
Verdict: INACCURATE
The claim that Kogi State recorded an IGR of N18 billion in 2022 is inaccurate. The State’s budget performance report for the fiscal year under review shows that the IGR stood at N17.884 billion.
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