The World Bank has said that the number of poor Nigerians is projected to hit 95.1 million this year.
The bank made this known in its poverty assessment report.
The report noted that COVID-19 crisis is driving up Nigeria’s poverty rate, pushing more than 5 million additional people into poverty by 2022.
With real per capita GDP growth being negative in all sectors in 2020, the bank said poverty is projected to have deepened for the current poor, while those households that were just above the poverty line prior to the COVID-19 crisis would be likely to fall into poverty.
The report noted that Nigeria’s growth performance was declining even before the COVID-19 crisis.
Last year, President Muhammadu Buhari claimed that his government lifted 10.5 million Nigerians out of poverty between 2019 and 2021.
