World Bank Report Exposes Nigeria’s Deepening Poverty Crisis — ADC

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has faulted the Federal Government’s claims of economic recovery, saying the latest World Bank report revealing that 139 million Nigerians now live below the poverty line exposes the harsh truth about worsening living conditions under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC described the World Bank’s October 2025 report as an “unbiased verdict” on the true state of the economy, showing that poverty, hunger, and inflation have deepened despite government assurances of progress.

“The World Bank numbers tell a painful story: under the APC and President Bola Tinubu’s government, more Nigerians have fallen into poverty than at any other time in our history. In 2019, four out of ten Nigerians were poor; today, it is at least six out of ten,” the party said.

The ADC expressed alarm over the surge in the number of citizens living below the poverty line — from 81 million in 2019 to 139 million in 2025 — calling it a sharp contradiction to the Federal Government’s self-acclaimed economic victories.

The statement also took aim at Tinubu’s Independence Day address, where he declared that “the worst is over,” describing the claim as “disconnected from reality.”

“Behind those optimistic figures lie grim realities — families skipping meals, children dropping out of school, and households selling assets just to survive,” Abdullahi said.

The ADC further accused the government of focusing on record revenue collection while ignoring the soaring cost of living and sharp rise in food inflation, noting that most poor families now spend 70 percent of their income on food, leaving little to meet other basic needs like rent, education, or healthcare.

It also lamented the drastic shrinkage in social protection coverage — from 20 percent in 2019 to just 6 percent in 2025 — with government spending on safety nets dropping to 0.14 percent of GDP, far below the global average of 1.5 percent.

“The truth is that Nigerians are worse off under the current administration. Contrary to the President’s claim, the worst is not over — it appears the worst has only just begun,” the ADC stated.

The party criticised the use of what it termed an “artificially low” domestic poverty threshold, arguing that such figures only serve to conceal the true extent of suffering.

“A poverty line that is set too low does not protect the poor — it hides them. The government cannot fix poverty by redefining it downward,” Abdullahi warned.

The ADC called for a complete overhaul of economic policy, urging the Federal Government to prioritise food security, job creation, and targeted social protection programmes that directly benefit the poor.

“What Nigeria needs now is a government that puts the people first and understands that inclusive growth is not just a slogan, but a deliberate strategy for national development,” the statement concluded.