Claim: The National Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Stephen Ayensu Ntim, says the inflation rate in Nigeria jumped from 1.4% in 2019 to 21.8% in January 2023.
Verdict: False. Data available to DUBAWA shows the inflation rate in Nigeria in 2019 was 11.40%, representing a 0.69% drop from the previous year’s rate of 12.09%. The Central Bank of Nigeria, World Bank and WorldData had confirmed this. However, the inflation rate for January 2023 was 21.82%, as stated by the NPP Chairman.
Full Text
Since the start of 2023, Ghana’s governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has been parrying claims by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that it had mismanaged the country’s economy, resulting in the present economic predicament.
The latest party functionary to mount a defence was the NPP National Chairman, Stephen Ayensu Ntim, who maintained the government had done creditably well, despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Comparing the economic outlook of some West African countries at a press conference held in Accra on April 4, 2023, Mr Ayensu Ntim said the inflation rate in Nigeria leapt from 1.4% in 2019 to 21.8% in January 2023. See the video posted on Accra-based Joy News’s YouTube channel, from minutes 17:32 to 15:49.
“In Nigeria, just next door, inflation jumped from 1.4% in 2019 to 21.8% in January 2023. That is almost a 50% rise in inflation,” he said.
He added, “The abysmal performance of the NDC [National Democratic Congress] in the real sector was against the NDC inheriting a booming economy from the Kufour-led NPP administration, which gifted the NDC an oil economy.” See the video on Accra-based Joy News’s YouTube channel from 15:30 to 15:40.
Considering the ongoing economic exchanges between the two dominating political parties in Ghana, DUBAWA decided to investigate the claim made by the NPP National Chairman.
Verification
The Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed that the country’s inflation rate in 2019 was 11.40%. This represented a 0.69% drop from the previous year’s rate, which was 12.09%. However, Nigeria’s central bank revealed that the inflation rate for January 2023 was 21.80%.
Also, World Bank data showed that Nigeria’s inflation rate was 11.4% in 2019, jumping to 13.2% in 2020.
Similarly, WorldData, a comprehensive database for geographic, climatological and demographic data, noted the inflation rate in Nigeria for 2019 was 11.40 and not 1.4%. The inflation rate leapt to 13.25% in 2020, WorldData said.
The figure cited by WorldData had been confirmed by Statista, an online platform specialising in market and consumer data. According to Statista, the inflation rate in Nigeria in 2019 was 11.4%.
In view of data available at the Central Bank of Nigeria, World Bank, Statista, and WorldData, it is, therefore, inaccurate to say that Nigeria’s inflation rate in 2019 was 1.4%.
Conclusion
The Central Bank of Nigeria, World Bank, Statista and WorldData had shown that the inflation rate in Nigeria in 2019 was 11.40% and not 1.4%, as noted by the National Chairman of Ghana’s governing New Patriotic Party.
