Fact-Check: Did the Cable Publisher, Simon Kolawole, Attack Peter Obi for “Democratisation of Poverty” in Anambra?

Fact-Check: Did the Cable Publisher, Simon Kolawole, Attack Peter Obi for “Democratisation of Poverty” in Anambra?

Claim: An e-flyer circulating on social media and messaging platforms claim that the publisher of the Cable online news, Simon Kolawole, attacked Labour Party (LP) presidential flagbearer, Peter Obi, for democratising poverty in Anambra while he was Governor of the state. 

Fill Text: The e-flyer which bears a portrait photo of the Cable’s publisher and the identifier, “Simon Kolawole Founder, Cable Newspaper Limited,” on the footer was accompanied by the following text: 

“While Obi gloated about savings, there is no signature project to remember his regime except that his regime took the first position among all states in Nigeria in the democratisation of poverty – mass impoverishment of the people of Anambra. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, poverty rose under his watch in Anambra from 20% in 2004 (lowest in Nigeria then) to 68% in 2010 (a 238% deterioration).” 

Verification: 

PRNigeria ran a google search of keywords used in the text and result showed that the message was culled from an article titled, “2023: On Peter Obi, let us verify!” which was  originally published on the Cable online on 10th August 2022. 

The author of the article, Kolawole Johnson, clearly identified himself as a socio-political analyst who wrote from Abuja quoted an excerpt from the current Governor of Anambra state, Charles Soludo’s article “…Beyond The Elections”, published in 2015.

Furthermore, a caveat which clearly states, “views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of TheCable,” is clearly seen at the end of the article. 

PRNigeria also reached out the Cable’s publisher, Simon Kolawole, who denied ownership of the message. 

“This is so so sad,” he reacted. 

Conclusion/Verdict: The claim that the publisher of the Cable online news, Simon Kolawole, attacked Labour Party presidential flagbearer, Peter Obi, for ‘democratising poverty’ in Anambra while he was Governor of the state is not true. An article by one Kolawole Johnson and not Simon Kolawole, in the Cable, merely quoted Soludo in his article of 2015 alleging that Peter Obi’s “regime took the first position among all states in Nigeria in the democratisation of poverty – mass impoverishment of the people of Anambra.” The claim that Simon Kolawole attacked Peter Obi in a message is therefore MISLEADING. 

By PRNigeria