The Presidency has dismissed the World Bank’s claim that 139 million Nigerians are living in poverty, describing the figure as unrealistic and disconnected from the country’s economic conditions.
Presidential media aide Sunday Dare said in a statement that the report must be contextualised within global poverty measurement models, explaining that the $2.15-per-day benchmark used by the Bank when converted to local currency equates to about ₦100,000 monthly, which far exceeds Nigeria’s new minimum wage of ₦70,000.
He noted that the estimate was a modelled projection rather than an actual headcount and often failed to account for Nigeria’s vast informal economy.
The Presidency maintained that the President Tinubu administration was tackling poverty through structural reforms and expanded social programmes, including cash transfers to 15 million households, renewed investment in infrastructure, and food security initiatives. It said the government’s policies were aimed at ensuring inclusive growth, job creation, and lower living costs, stressing that recent fiscal measures such as subsidy removal and exchange rate unification were painful but necessary steps to rebuild the economy.
The Presidency reaffirmed President Tinubu’s commitment to a resilient and inclusive economy and urged caution against what it called exaggerated statistical interpretations detached from Nigeria’s realities.