The World Bank Group has revealed that about 139 million Nigerians are currently living in poverty despite recent government reforms that have boosted revenues across all tiers of government.
The disclosure was made by Mathew Verghis, Country Director for World Bank Nigeria, at the launch of the Nigeria Development Update (NDU) in Abuja on Wednesday, October 8.
Verghis noted that poverty levels, which began rising in 2019 due to policy missteps and external shocks—including the COVID-19 pandemic—have continued to increase even after the implementation of major economic reforms.
According to him, Nigeria’s economic indicators show signs of recovery, with rising revenues, improving debt sustainability, a stabilising foreign exchange market, increasing reserves, and easing inflation.
“These results are exactly what you need to see in a stabilisation process. These are big achievements. However, despite these stabilisation gains, many Nigerians are still struggling. Most households are grappling with eroded purchasing power,” Verghis said.
“In 2025, we estimate that 139 million Nigerians live in poverty. The challenge is clear—how to translate the gains from stabilisation reforms into better living standards for all.”
He stressed that to tackle the deepening poverty, Nigeria must reduce inflation—especially food inflation, improve the efficiency of public spending, and expand social safety nets to protect vulnerable citizens.
“Food inflation affects everyone, but particularly the poor, and it has the potential to undermine political support for reforms. Public resources must be used more effectively to drive real development results that benefit people, and the safety net must be expanded to ensure support for the poorest,” he added.
Presenting an overview of the report titled “From Policy to People: Bringing the Reform Gains Home,”Samer Matta, World Bank Lead Economist for Nigeria, said that gross revenues distributed as federation allocations have risen significantly in the first eight months of 2025.
However, Matta expressed concern about the large deductions made by revenue-collecting agencies, noting that such deductions do not contribute meaningfully to development outcomes.
He described Nigeria’s economic outlook as “cautiously optimistic,” supported by steady growth, easing inflation, fiscal stability, and a strong external position, though still facing ongoing risks.
According to the NDU report, GDP growth is projected to rise modestly to 4.4 percent by 2027, driven by strong performance in the services sector, a rebound in agriculture, and improved industrial activity within a more stable macroeconomic environment.
The World Bank expects inflation to ease to 15.8 percent by 2027, supported by tight monetary policy and improved supply conditions. The fiscal deficit is projected to average 2.7 percent of GDP between 2026 and 2027, buoyed by higher tax revenues and lower interest payments—keeping public debt stable at around 40 percent of GDP.
The report also showed an increase in capital expenditure (capex) by both federal and subnational governments. At the subnational level, capex now accounts for about 60–65 percent of total spending, rising from nearly 1 percent of GDP in 2022 to a projected 2.7 percent in 2025.
However, at the federal level, wages and salaries still consume around 70 percent of total spending, leaving limited fiscal space for capital investments.
“The outlook remains subject to several risks—growth and disinflation could be undermined by oil price shocks, reform fatigue, election uncertainties, and climate-related disruptions,” the report warned.
Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team
Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team is the team responsible for researching, writing, editing, and publishing news and feature content on Julian Daily Gist. Our coverage includes Nigerian current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, health, business, and human-interest stories. We aim to provide readers with timely, accurate, and responsibly sourced information.
The Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team researches, writes, edits, and publishes news and feature content covering Nigerian current affairs, entertainment, sports, health, business, lifestyle, and human-interest stories.
We aim to provide accurate, timely, and responsibly sourced information and update our reports when credible new information becomes available.
The Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team is responsible for researching, writing, editing, and publishing content across Julian Daily Gist.
Our coverage includes Nigerian current affairs, politics, business, entertainment, sports, health, lifestyle, and human-interest stories.
We aim to provide readers with timely, accurate, useful, and responsibly sourced information. Our team makes reasonable efforts to verify important information, identify sources, distinguish allegations from confirmed facts, and update reports when credible new information becomes available.
We also believe in transparency and accountability. Readers can contact our editorial team to report factual errors, request corrections, or provide additional information relevant to a published story.
Editorial focus: News, current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, health, business, and human-interest stories.
Team BIo:
The Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team is responsible for researching, writing, editing, and publishing content across Julian Daily Gist.
Our coverage includes Nigerian current affairs, politics, business, entertainment, sports, health, lifestyle, and human-interest stories.
We aim to provide readers with timely, accurate, useful, and responsibly sourced information. Our team makes reasonable efforts to verify important information, identify sources, distinguish allegations from confirmed facts, and update reports when credible new information becomes available.
We also believe in transparency and accountability. Readers can contact our editorial team to report factual errors, request corrections, or provide additional information relevant to a published story.
Editorial focus: News, current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, health, business, and human-interest stories.
Editorial Policy:
At Julian Daily Gist, our goal is to provide readers with timely, useful, accurate, and responsibly presented news and information.
We cover Nigerian current affairs, politics, business, entertainment, sports, health, lifestyle, human-interest stories, and other topics of interest to our readers.
1. Accuracy and Verification
We make reasonable efforts to ensure that information published on Julian Daily Gist is accurate and presented in its proper context.
Before publishing a report, our editorial team makes reasonable efforts to:
- Check information against credible sources.
- Verify names, dates, locations, figures, and other important details.
- Attribute information to the appropriate source.
- Distinguish confirmed facts from allegations, claims, opinions, and speculation.
- Update stories when credible new information becomes available.
When information cannot be independently verified, we make this clear to readers rather than presenting it as established fact.
2. Sources
We use a range of sources, including:
- Official government statements.
- Police and security agencies.
- Courts and legal documents.
- Government agencies.
- Direct interviews and statements.
- Reputable news organizations.
- Publicly available records.
- Verified social media accounts and statements.
When an article relies substantially on information reported by another publication, we aim to clearly attribute the information to that source.
We do not intentionally present another publication's reporting as our own.
3. Originality
Julian Daily Gist aims to provide original editorial value.
When we report information that has already been published elsewhere, we seek to add value through original writing, context, verification, analysis, additional information, or other useful material.
We do not intentionally copy and republish articles from other websites without appropriate attribution and meaningful editorial contribution.
4. Allegations and Sensitive Claims
When reporting allegations involving individuals or organizations, we make reasonable efforts to clearly identify allegations as allegations.
We avoid presenting unproven accusations as established facts.
Where relevant, we seek or include responses from the person, organization, or representative concerned.
For criminal matters, we recognize that an allegation, arrest, charge, or accusation does not by itself establish guilt.
5. Headlines
Our headlines are intended to accurately reflect the content of our articles.
We aim to avoid deliberately misleading headlines, fabricated claims, or headlines that exaggerate facts simply to generate clicks.
6. Corrections and Updates
We take corrections seriously.
If we discover that an article contains a significant factual error, we may correct or update the article as appropriate.
Readers who identify an error are encouraged to contact us with specific information supporting the correction.
Where appropriate, significant corrections or updates may be noted within the article.
7. Editorial Independence
Editorial decisions are made independently of advertisers, sponsors, commercial partners, and other external interests.
Advertising or sponsorship does not automatically influence our editorial decisions or the opinions expressed by our writers.
8. Sponsored and Promotional Content
Where Julian Daily Gist publishes sponsored, paid, or promotional content, we aim to clearly identify it as such.
Sponsored content does not necessarily represent the independent editorial views of Julian Daily Gist.
9. Conflicts of Interest
Our editorial team should avoid situations where personal, financial, or other interests could improperly influence reporting.
Where a relevant conflict of interest exists, we aim to disclose it when appropriate.
10. Use of Images and Other Media
We aim to use images, videos, graphics, and other media responsibly and with appropriate permission, licensing, attribution, or other lawful basis where required.
We do not knowingly use copyrighted material in a manner that infringes the rights of its owner.
If you believe that material published on Julian Daily Gist infringes your copyright, please contact us so that we can review the matter.
11. Artificial Intelligence
We may use technology and artificial intelligence tools to assist with certain editorial tasks, such as research support, proofreading, formatting, transcription, or drafting assistance.
However, AI-generated information is not treated as automatically accurate. Content remains subject to human review, editing, fact-checking, and editorial judgment before publication where appropriate.
We do not intentionally publish fabricated information generated by AI.
12. Privacy and Personal Information
We take reasonable care when handling personal information and avoid publishing unnecessary private information about individuals.
Sensitive personal information is published only when there is a legitimate public-interest reason and where appropriate.
Our handling of visitor information is explained in our Privacy Policy.
13. Opinion and Commentary
Opinion articles and commentary represent the views expressed by the respective writer or contributor.
Where appropriate, opinion content will be identified as commentary, analysis, or opinion so that readers can distinguish it from straightforward news reporting.
14. User-Generated Content
Comments and other material submitted by readers may be moderated.
We reserve the right to remove content that is unlawful, defamatory, abusive, discriminatory, misleading, threatening, spam-related, or otherwise inappropriate.
User comments do not necessarily represent the views of Julian Daily Gist.
15. Our Commitment
We are committed to improving the quality, accuracy, transparency, and usefulness of Julian Daily Gist.
As our publication grows, we will continue reviewing our editorial practices and updating this policy when necessary.
16. Contact and Corrections
If you have a correction, clarification, complaint, copyright concern, or question about our editorial practices, please contact us through our Contact Us page.
