{
  "id": 19106156,
  "title": "NDC candidate faults Lagos debate fact-checkers over N1.77tn IGR claim",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/ndc-candidate-faults-lagos-debate-fact-checkers-over-n1-77tn-igr-claim-19106156",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-09T06:44:51.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Punch",
    "slug": "punch",
    "url": "https://punchng.com/ndc-candidate-faults-lagos-debate-fact-checkers-over-n1-77tn-igr-claim/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Funso Doherty, the gubernatorial candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress in Lagos State, has taken issue with fact-checkers who questioned his claims during the recent Lagos Governorship Debate. He demanded an apology for the inaccurate assessment of his figures regarding the state's internally generated revenue (IGR). According to Doherty, Lagos generated N1.77tn in IGR in 2025, compared to N1.73tn generated by 31 other states combined. He cited data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) as his source for these figures. The debate was organized by the Nigeria Debate Consortium, which included The PUNCH, Channels Television, TVC News, TheCable, and Vanguard Newspaper, ahead of the 2027 Lagos gubernatorial election. Doherty argued that the revenue comparison was not about a lack of financial resources but the failure of administrations to translate the state's significant earnings into better living conditions for residents. He used the revenue figures to highlight the poor delivery of essential public services, such as healthcare and education, despite the state's substantial IGR. The NBS report on 2025 IGR showed that Lagos generated the highest amount among the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, totaling approximately N1.77tn, while the combined IGR of all states and the FCT was around N5.15tn. The Nigerian Fact-checkers' Coalition published a breakdown stating that the combined revenue of the 31 states was approximately N1.574tn and confirmed that the central claim that Lagos generated more than the 31 states combined was correct.",
  "summary": "The governorship candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress in Lagos State, Funso Doherty, has challenged the fact-checkers at Sunday’s Lagos Governorship Debate for accusing him of giving out false information. Read More: https://punchng.com/ndc-candidate-faults-lagos-debate-fact-checkers-over-n1-77tn-igr-claim/",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}