FACT CHECK: Did three ‘youngest’ lawmakers reject SUVs from Nigerian govt?

Claim:Three youngest Nigerian lawmakers rejected Sport Utility Vehicles from the Federal government.
Verdict: No reliable evidence the lawmakers rejected the SUVs.
Full Text:
A YouTube channel recently made a video to claim that three Nigerian lawmakers rejected SUVs from the government.
The 8-minute, 47-second video was posted on InterVlog YouTube channel with 194,000 subscribers. So far, the video has amassed 123,000 views and 2,000 likes within two months. The video has also been shared on various social media platforms.
The huge cost of governance in Nigeria has been critically condemned by citizens and groups. So when the Senate proposed to buy SUVs for the 360 lawmakers in the National Assembly last year, critics vehemently opposed the move though the Senate justified its decision to purchase the foreign-made exotic vehicles.
The proposal to purchase the SUVs had been debated as far back as 2019. The lawmakers had tackled Nigerians for being against the buying of N5.5 billion worth of vehicles.
Even though Nigerians urged the lawmakers to reject the exotic vehicles, last year, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Services, Sunday Karimi, had said the leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly decided to buy the luxury cars for lawmakers because of durability and maintenance for the period of four years.
The viral video, titled, “Politicians returned exotic cars to Nigerian President. Demand for money to build factories (sic)”, also contains a caption stating that “Bello El-Rufai, a member of the Federal House of Representatives and son of the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir, El-Rufai disclosed his rejection of the SUV in an interview with Seun Okinbaloye, a broadcaster with Channels TV.”
A screenshot of the YouTube channel taken on July 28th, 2024
The channel also attached a link to an article. In the article, titled, “SUV saga: Bello El-Rufai reveals why he rejects luxury cars offered to lawmaker”, the lawmaker is quoted to have told the programme host that “None of us took those SUVs for the kind insult wey we chop. Why would I take an SUV, Seun? You just said I am a son of privilege. I have had an SUV since working with Huawei”.
The channel, which claims to be “promoting employment and good governance”, narrated in the video: “Good governance started in Africa, and it is not coming from president neither is it coming from ministers but three youngest lawmakers in Nigeria. These three lawmakers in Nigeria went into office and where given three SUV Toyota land cruiser that cost $150,000 each and these people refused the SUVs and the reason will marvel you. They are all from northern part of Nigeria.”
“They said they cannot collect SUVs and be enjoying when the north is the poorest part of live in Africa. Why should they be driving such a car”. Even they told the other lawmakers not to collect the car from the federal government because it is not a good idea for people in government to be enjoying when the people they govern are suffering. Instead let the government give them the money… so that they can use it to build factories in their communities and employ these people that are suffering”.
READ ALSO:FACT-CHECK: Does Nigeria lose $50m to oil theft every week as a Facebook user claimed?
The video also includes a clip of an interview by Bello El-Rufai. “I am not the youngest lawmaker; he is 27 years old. Ibrahim Bello. He is in PDP. A brilliant young man. There is honorable Muktar Shagaya. You should have him here. And none of us took those SUVs. Why should I take an SUV?”
“Their names are Bello El-rufai from Kaduna state, Honorable Ibrahim Bello from Kebbi State and Honorable Muktar Shagaya from Kwara State. They are presently the youngest lawmakers in Nigeria”, the voice over in the video says.
TVN decided to verify the claim as it has potential to distort public discourse.
Verification:
Claim 1: Bello El-rufai, Honorable Ibrahim Bello and Muktar Shagaya are the youngest lawmakers in Nigeria.
Bello El-Rufai (Kaduna North) is a serving Senator in the 10th National Assembly. A member of the incumbent All Progressive Congress, Bello (34) was among the senators elected during the February 25th, 2023 elections.
Muktar Shagaya Tolani is representing the Ilorin West/Asa Federal constituency in the national assembly. The 32 year old is also an APC member.
Ibrahim Muhammed, representing Birnin-Kebbi/Kalgo/Bunza, is a Peoples Democratic Party member. The 27 year old emerged as the PDP candidate after the demise of his his brother, Abba Bello Mohammed demise.
The above age is the age of the lawmakers when they registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission during the election period.
Another young lawmaker in the National Assembly is 37-year-old Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong representing Cross River south senatorial district.
Claim 2: Bello, Ibrahim and Shagaya rejected SUVs.
TVN observed that a clip of an interview with Bello El-Rufai was inserted within the viral video.
We tracked the video and discovered that it was a cut out from an interview the lawmaker had on Mic on Podcast on March 9, 2024.
In response to a question from the host, Seun Okinabloye, asked regarding the SUVs purchase, the lawmaker said, “I am not the youngest lawmaker; he is 27 years old, Ibrahim Bello. He is in the PDP; a brilliant young man. There is also honorable Muktar Shagaya. You should have him here. And none of us took those SUVs. Why should I take an SUV?”
He further said many lawmakers did not take the SUVs contrary to public assumptions.
Meanwhile, the development has not been made public by the other lawmakers.
However, our correspondent has reached out to the lawmakers via email to get their comments on the claim. They are yet to respond. (This article will be updated with their responses later.)
Further checks
The use of artificial intelligence has become pervasive, sometimes misused to manipulate images, videos, and audios with the intent to mislead.
It was observed that the voice-over in the video does not sound like a human reader, with names pronounced with foreign accent; an indication that it was generated using AI software.
Conclusion:
While it is true that the lawmakers are among the youngest members that constitute the 10th National Assembly, the claim that they rejected SUVs cannot be immediately verified.
By: Quadri Yahya
The post FACT CHECK: Did three ‘youngest’ lawmakers reject SUVs from Nigerian govt? appeared first on Latest Nigeria News | Top Stories from TVN.