JUST IN: After NBS’s Report Of 133m Poor Nigerians, UK Govt Advises Buhari

The Government of the United Kingdom has reacted to the multi-dimensional Poverty Index released by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics which revealed that about 133 million Nigerians are poor under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

According to World Bank data, Nigeria’s population stands at 211.4 million (2021) implying that over 50% of the country’s citizens are at the poverty level going to the report from NBS – the agency that oversees and publishes statistics for the nation.

The NBS report shows that poverty spreads across the country with 86 million in the North while 47 million reside in the South.

In a tweet on Friday, the UK diplomatic office in Nigeria advised the Nigerian government to use the report to make informed poverty alleviation decisions.

It specifically advised that formulation of people-based policy is a critical step to address the unsavory development.

“The UK welcomes the @NBS_Nigeria release of the nationwide #MultiDimensionalPovertyIndex in #Nigeria.

“We urge all government and development partners to use the results to inform evidence-based policy and programmes that support the poor. This is a critical tool to end poverty,” it tweeted.

Recall that upon assumption of office in 2015, Buhari promised to lift over 100 million out of poverty.

He reiterated the campaign promise at the United Nations General Assembly this year.

The NBS’s latest report showed that this campaign promise of the current administration has not been realized.