Taiwo Adebulu, a Nigerian journalist, has won the 2020 African Fact-check Award.  

His story “FACT CHECK: Nigeria told UN that 7 varsities run strictly on renewable energy, but is this true?” was rated as the best among 192 entries from 27 countries across the continent.

Adebulu, a reporter with TheCable, an online newspaper, had investigated how Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Mohammed Mahmood, had grossly misinformed the United Nations at its Climate Action Summit in 2019.

In a ceremony on Thursday as part of the virtual African Investigative Journalism Conference, Africa Check, organisers of the competition, said the impressive entries submitted for the 2020 award showed 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.

“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 and vibrant practice of fact-checking on the continent,” the organisers said.

Adebulu, who holds a Master’s in Communication Arts from the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, is also a recipient of the 2020 BudgIT/Civic Hive Media Fellowship.

In 2017, Adebulu won the Sustainable Development Goals category of the Zimeo Excellence in Media Award in Ethiopia. 

He was a finalist for The Future Awards Africa Prize for Journalism 2018 and recently won the 2020 PwC Media Excellence Award.