63 Percent Of Nigerians Living In Poverty – NBS

President Muhammadu Buhari says about 63 per cent of people in Nigeria are multidimensionally poor.

Buhari said this at the inauguration of the 2022 Nigeria Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Survey Report on Thursday in Abuja.

The report was released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Represented by his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, the president said multidimensional poverty was higher in the rural areas compared to the urban areas.

“This multidimensional way of understanding poverty has been helpful in highlighting beyond monetary/income-based poverty measurements, the stark realities of poverty in each state and across the 109 Senatorial districts.

According to the report, the incidence of monetary poverty is lower than the incidence of multidimensional poverty across most states where 40.1 per cent of people are poor.

This is according to the 2018/19 national monetary poverty line.

“However, 63 per cent are multidimensionally poor according to the 2022 MPI report.

“Furthermore, the Report shows that multidimensional poverty is higher in the rural areas, where 72 per cent of people are poor, compared to 42 per cent of people in urban areas.

He said that according to the report, two thirds that is 67.5 per cent of children aged between 0 to 17 are poor and 51 per cent of all poor people are children.

Buhari restated his commitment to eradicating extreme poverty in Nigeria evident through the official establishment of the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO) in 2016.

“The Federal Executive Council also just approved an Executive Bill to be sent to the National Assembly on the legal framework for the National Social Investment Programme.

”Hence, we have been intentional with our plan to lift 100 million people out of poverty within 10 years, in line with the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)and the Africa Agenda 2063.

“We are happy that the MPI will serve as both a measurement and policy tool to monitor our progress at achieving these goals. ”