Presidency rejects World Bank’s poverty report

Tinubu

The Presidency has disputed the latest economic report by Nigeria’s biggest multilateral lender, the World Bank, which estimated that 139 million citizens were living in poverty, describing the figure as “unrealistic” and detached from the country’s economic realities.

President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, said in a post on his official X handle on Wednesday that the poverty figures must be “properly contextualised” within the limits of global poverty measurement models.

“While Nigeria values its partnership with the World Bank and appreciates its contributions to policy analysis, the figure quoted must be properly contextualised. It is unrealistic,” Dare said.

The Presidency explained that the 139 million figure was derived from the global poverty line of $2.15 per person per day, set in 2017 using Purchasing Power Parity, and should not be mistaken for an actual headcount of poor Nigerians. Punch