A news story circulating online claims that Aliko Dangote, founder and chair of the Dangote Group, recently said that the president of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu created the biggest mess for business owners in the country in 2023.
The news piece published by Osundefender on May 2 2024, cited Sahara Reporters, stating that Dangote made the remark at this year’s annual general meeting of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc. “Tinubu Created A Mess In 2023, 97 Per Cent Of Companies Can’t Pay Dividends – Dangote,” the headline reads.
The news content partly read, “The floating of the Naira by President Bola Tinubu’s administration has been described by the Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote as the biggest mess that affected his company and other business owners in 2023.” Multiple social media users made the same claim as seen here, here, and here.
Tinubu took the oath of office on May 29 2023 after being declared by the National Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the February 25 presidential election. In June of the same year, Dangote visited Tinubu and lauded his policies on subsidy removal and unification of the foreign exchange (FX) rates. Also in February 2024, Dangote, alongside other members of the organised private sector, met with Tinubu over the country’s economic situation. In March, the presidency announced the creation of an economic coordination council which included Dangote.
Claim: Dangote said Tinubu created the biggest mess for business owners in 2023
Verification
To ascertain the claim’s authenticity, the CDD War Room assessed multiple reports from credible media sources. We found that the statement from Dangote indicates the significant economic impact of the devaluation of Nigeria’s currency from N460 to N1,400, which he said caused financial challenges, particularly for companies operating in the food and beverages industry. Dangote did not explicitly say Tinubu caused the devaluation of Naira or created the biggest mess for business owners in 2023. The Cable, Punch and Independent Newspaper reported the development as seen here, here, and here.
“The biggest mess created was the devaluation of the Naira from N460 to N1,400. You can see that almost 97 per cent of companies in the food and beverage business, none of them will pay dividends this year. But we will try and get out of it,” Dangote was quoted to have said.
Verdict: MISLEADING
CDD War Room confirms that Dangote’s statement only expressed the financial difficulty caused by the currency devaluation, particularly for food and beverages companies and did not explicitly indicate that Tinubu created the biggest mess for the companies in 2023.