The Presidency has dismissed the recent World Bank report which estimated that over 139 million Nigerians are living in poverty, describing the figure as “unrealistic, exaggerated, and detached from Nigeria’s economic realities.”
The report, titled Nigeria Development Update (October 2025), stated that despite recent economic reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidies and exchange rate unification, over half of Nigeria’s population remains trapped in multidimensional poverty. It noted that while macroeconomic indicators have improved, citizens are yet to feel the impact of government reforms in their daily lives.
According to the World Bank, the share of “ultra-poor” Nigerians—those unable to afford basic food requirements—rose sharply from 14 percent in 2019 to 27 percent in 2023. It also revealed that average household consumption fell by about 6.7 percent during the same period, with northern Nigeria accounting for the highest poverty levels, especially in the northeast where over 80 percent of residents are said to be poor.
However, the Presidency, through the Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Mr. Sunday Dare, rejected the report’s conclusions, arguing that the World Bank’s methodology is “detached from local context and fails to reflect ongoing reforms under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.”
“The poverty benchmark used by the World Bank, which is $2.15 per person per day based on 2017 purchasing power parity (PPP), translates to nearly N100,000 per month in today’s terms,” Dare explained. “That does not represent the reality of Nigeria’s cost of living, where the national minimum wage is N70,000. This shows that the benchmark is unrealistic and misleading.”
The Presidency further emphasized that poverty estimates derived from PPP models are statistical projections, not actual headcounts, and therefore do not accurately reflect the living conditions of Nigerians engaged in informal or subsistence economic activities.
Defending the Tinubu-led administration, Dare pointed to various government interventions aimed at poverty alleviation, including:
- The Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, targeting millions of vulnerable households;
- The Ward Development Programme, designed to deliver micro-infrastructure at the grassroots level;
- Expansion of existing social investment schemes such as N-Power, GEEP, and the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme.
He stressed that while the government acknowledges the challenges faced by citizens due to the ongoing economic transition, the administration’s fiscal and structural reforms are already laying the groundwork for sustainable growth and inclusive development.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reforms are not cosmetic—they are strategic corrections meant to stabilize the economy and build a foundation for prosperity. These changes will take time, but they are necessary to pull millions out of poverty in the long term,” Dare stated.
Meanwhile, economic observers note that although Nigeria has recorded improvements in macroeconomic stability—rising revenues, moderated inflation, and stronger fiscal performance—the real challenge lies in translating those gains into improved welfare and purchasing power for the average citizen.
The World Bank had urged the Nigerian government to intensify efforts in curbing food inflation, improving public spending efficiency, and expanding social safety nets to cushion the impact of reforms on vulnerable households.
As debates continue, both the Presidency and the World Bank appear to agree on one key point: Nigeria’s economic recovery is underway, but the pace at which it trickles down to the poor will determine the true measure of progress in the coming years.