The Presidency has strongly disputed the recent economic report released by the World Bank, which estimated that 139 million Nigerians are currently living in poverty.
According to the World Bank’s latest assessment, Nigeria’s poverty rate has surged significantly due to inflation, unemployment, and low purchasing power, raising deep concerns about the country’s economic direction.
However, the Presidency has dismissed the report as “unrealistic and misleading.” President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, in a post shared on his official X (Twitter) handle on Wednesday, faulted the methodology used by the World Bank, insisting that the figures were “detached from the nation’s economic realities.”
Dare emphasized that while the government acknowledges existing economic challenges, the report must be “properly contextualized within the limits of global poverty measurement models.” He noted that the administration has implemented several poverty-alleviation and economic-recovery programs that the World Bank report failed to account for.
He stated:
> “The World Bank’s poverty figure for Nigeria is unrealistic and not reflective of current on-the-ground realities. Any credible analysis must consider our ongoing interventions and the limitations of global poverty models when applied locally.”
The statement has since generated mixed reactions across the country, with some Nigerians accusing the government of downplaying the hardship faced by citizens, while others urged for a more transparent approach to economic reporting.
As debates continue, analysts are calling for better collaboration between the Nigerian government and international development partners to ensure accurate data and effective poverty reduction strategies.
📌 Source: Punch News
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