Atiku claimed on the 22nd of July 2022 while responding to questions on the chances of Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi at the presidential polls:
“It is very difficult to expect a miracle to happen, simply because Peter Obi is in the Labour Party. After all, they were saying through social media, they had more than one million votes in Osun state,” he said.
“But how many voters turned for the Labour Party? And then again, mark you, you’re talking about social media. In the north, 90 percent of our people are not tuned to social media.”
This claim is FALSE!
Here is what we know …
The last population projection published by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2020 put the total population of the 19 states in northern Nigeria at 106,178,794 in 2019. At an annual population growth rate of 2.5 percent according to the world bank, the figure will amount to 111,554,094 in 2021. Arithmetically, 90% of 111,554,094 is 95,560,914.
However, according to the NBS Telecoms Data report for 2021, the total number of active internet subscriptions in the northern region is 65,727,075. While the total number of internet users does not automatically translate to social media usage, a report published in October 2021 by Data Report, a global digital insights platform, estimates that at least 50% of internet users are active on social media.
50% of 65,727,075 translates to 32,863,537 which is about 29% of the total population of Northern Nigeria.
It is also worthwhile to note that social media user numbers are still growing steadily, with an average of 13 new users starting to use social media for the first time every single second per Data Report.
Also, there is no reliable data source that gives credence to the claim by the former Vice President
Conclusion
The claim by Atiku Abubakar that 90% of Northerners are not on social media is FALSE
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