By Zulaiha Danjuma
Nasiru El-rufia is currently sitting in a cell facing questions about his past. But a year ago, he was the one asking the questions about the number of Nigerians living in poverty, amid public criticisms of the govts economics policies.
He claimed that Nigeria is poorer today than it was in 1960. As the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) scrutinizes his bank accounts, we decided to scrutinize his mathematics. Was the former Kaduna State Governor telling a hard truth, or was he just playing politics with poverty?
The Claim:
El-Rufa’i— There Are Now More Poor Nigerians Than Our 1960 Population.
Checking the Facts
In 1960, the entire population of Nigeria was roughly 45 million people according to data from the National Population Commission. Today, the country’s population is estimated to be around 230 to 240 million plus people based on World Bank and Worldometer stats.
During independence, Nigeria had quite a smaller population compared to recent times, even though the country has not conducted an official census in 20 years since 2006. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) continues to give projections of the country’s population with its most recent 2022 population figure projected to be at 216 million.
Nasiru El-rufa’i made a viral claim that “There Are Now More Poor Nigerians Than Our 1960 Population” this was a statement that came amid growing criticism of the government’s handling of the country’s economic apparatus, with many Nigerians decrying hunger and frustration over the high cost of living.
El-Rufi’a made the claim at an interactive session in Owerri, Imo state, titled “Moving forward together” on September 8, 2025. The statement soon made it to the headlines of major news dailies in the country.
As El-Rufa’i faces ICPC’s scrutiny over his tenure as Governor of Kaduna state, his past comments on poverty are drawing fresh attention.
According to the World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update (NUD) report the numbers of people living with poverty rose from 81 million in 2019 to 139 million in 2025. This report supports the widely referenced Pwc report which projected poverty to rise to 62 percent, affecting 141 million people in 2026.
Historically the population of people living with poverty as of 1960 was said to be around 15% according to various scholarly citations, and the NBS’s National Poverty Profile report shows that the poverty rate in 1980 rose to 27.7%.
Here is a quick calculation of the figures below:
Population 1960 (P) = 45,000,000
Poverty rate 1960 ( R) = 15%
1960 Population × 1960 Poverty rate
(P)×( R) =
Number of poor people in 1960 = 6,750,000.
That is to say the number of poor people in 1960 was 6.7 million people.
While, currently Nigeria has a poverty population of an estimated 141 million people.
So, is the claim that there are now more poor Nigerians than our population in 1960 made by Former Kaduna state Governor Nasiru El-rufa’i True?
Our Verdict
YES, Nigeria presently has more number of poor people than the country’s citizen population in 1960.