{
  "id": 11399055,
  "title": "FACT CHECK: Do 140m Nigerians Live In Poverty As Peter Obi Claimed?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/02/fact-check-do-140m-nigerians-live-in-poverty-as-peter-obi-claimed",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-02T08:16:22.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Daily Trust",
    "slug": "daily-trust",
    "url": "https://dailytrust.com/fact-check-do-140m-nigerians-live-in-poverty-as-peter-obi-claimed/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Nigerian presidential candidate Peter Obi claimed in his Independence Day speech that over 140 million Nigerians live in poverty and severe hardship. However, official data does not conclusively prove this figure. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, about 133 million Nigerians, or 63% of the population, were multidimensionally poor in 2022, representing a figure not specific to 2026. More recent estimates from the World Bank and PwC also estimate around 140 million people living below the national poverty line by 2025. These projections are based on data from previous surveys, not necessarily an exact count for 2026. Regarding food insecurity, UN agencies project that nearly 35 million Nigerians may face acute hunger during the 2026 lean season, equating to 35 million people. This is slightly lower than Obi's claim of over 40 million people. The percentage of out-of-school children in Nigeria, cited by Obi as over 18 million, is confirmed by UNICEF's 2024 assessment, which reported 18.3 million children outside school. However, this figure refers to primary and junior secondary school age groups. Youth unemployment, another issue Obi highlighted, is estimated by ActionAid Nigeria to be over 35 million people. This estimate is based on their sources but is not the official unemployment rate. Lastly, Obi's claim about Nigeria's life expectancy of 54 years is supported by the World Bank, which lists Nigeria's life expectancy at birth at 54 years in 2023.",
  "summary": "Claim “Today we stand before the world as a nation with an extraordinarily large population living in poverty and severe hardship – over 140 million.” Peter Obi, Presidential Candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), made the claim in his Independence Day address as Nigeria marked its 66th anniversary, on Thursday. Obi […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}