Presidency Disputes World Bank Report on 139 Million Nigerians Living in Poverty
By Olatunbosun Obafemi
The Presidency has faulted the latest World Bank report which estimated that 139 million Nigerians are living in poverty, describing the figure as unrealistic and disconnected from the country’s current economic realities.
President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, in a statement on Thursday, said the statistics must be properly contextualised within global poverty measurement standards. He noted that while Nigeria values its partnership with the World Bank, the estimate is not an accurate reflection of living conditions in 2025.
According to Dare, the figure is based on the global poverty line of $2.15 per person per day, a threshold established in 2017 under the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) model. He explained that when converted to today’s exchange rate, this amounts to nearly ₦100,000 per month, far above Nigeria’s newly approved ₦70,000 minimum wage, making it a theoretical benchmark rather than a real-time measure.
He stressed that PPP-based assessments depend on historical consumption data and fail to capture the country’s large informal and subsistence sectors that sustain millions of households. “The figure should be seen as a modelled global projection, not an empirical reflection of the realities of 2025,” Dare said.
The Presidency maintained that Nigeria’s focus should be on the trajectory of change rather than static statistics, adding that the economy is now on a path of recovery and reform. It highlighted several initiatives aimed at poverty reduction, including expanded Conditional Cash Transfers reaching 15 million households, the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme, and strengthened National Social Investment Programmes such as N-Power and TraderMoni.
Other key interventions include food security initiatives, the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Fund, and the National Credit Guarantee Company, which are designed to reduce living costs, support small businesses, and create jobs.
Dare noted that the Tinubu administration is tackling long-standing structural distortions that have hindered inclusive growth, including overreliance on imports and low productivity. “Reforms such as subsidy removal and exchange rate unification are difficult but necessary steps toward long-term stability and prosperity,” he added.
The World Bank, in its report released Wednesday, said 139 million Nigerians remain poor despite ongoing reforms, though it commended the government’s efforts to stabilise the economy and called for more action to improve living standards.
