TheCable reporter clinches overall prize at African fact-checking awards

The panel of judges of the African fact-checking awards has rated Taiwo Adebulu, a journalist with TheCable, as the best among 197 applicants from 27 countries who submitted entries for the competition.

This comes barely one week after Adebulu won the 2020 PwC Media Excellence Awards.

Adebulu’s fact check of the claim of Mohammed Mahmood, Nigeria’s minister of environment, that seven federal universities were running strictly on renewable energy, won him both awards.

Mahmood made the claim at the United Nations Climate Action Summit (UNGA 74), in September 2019.

Adebulu’s fact check revealed that the minister had grossly misinformed the United Nations.

During the virtual ceremony which held on Thursday, Africa Check, organisers of the competition, said the impressive entries submitted for the 2020 awards show the growing and vibrant practice of fact-checking on the continent.

“In what has been a year like no other, we’ve received the highest number of entries in the history of the African Fact-Checking Awards: 192 entries from 27 countries across Africa,” the organisers said.

“We’ve gone from strength to strength since our inaugural awards in 2014, when we had about 40 entries from 10 countries. This growth can only be a wonderful advertisement for the growing & vibrant practice of fact-checking on the continent.”

*Fact-Check of the Year by a Working Journalist*

Winner: Taiwo Adebulu (@taiween)

Entry: “Nigeria told UN that 7 varsities run strictly on renewable energy, but is this true?” https://t.co/YCiqWXmrd2 pic.twitter.com/q52LpDpeun

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— Africa Check (@AfricaCheck) October 22, 2020

Speaking on the award, Adebulu said he feels excited to have won the continent’s best fact-checking competition.

“I really feel excited about winning this particular award because the story is very important to me and it took a great deal of hard work to travel across the country to find the truth,” Adebulu said.

“It is a culture at TheCable where I work that we must hold public officials accountable for what they say. We want to hold them to their words and curb the growing rate of misinformation in the country. Using fact-checking as a tool to achieve this means something to us.

“This award has really encouraged me to continue to tell important stories of public interest, which can also boost transparency in Nigeria.”

In 2017, Adebulu won the sustainable development goals (SDGs) category of the Zimeo Excellence in Media awards in Ethiopia. He was a finalist for The Future Awards Africa Prize for Journalism 2018.

Adebulu, who holds a master’s degree in communication arts from the University of Ibadan, is also a recipient of the 2020 BudgIT/Civic Hive media fellowship.