The African Democratic Congress has called on President Bola Tinubu to accept the World Bank’s latest report, which reveals that 139 million Nigerians now live below the poverty line, as an undeniable verdict on his administration’s failed economic policies.

The ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the report exposed the widening gap between government propaganda of progress and the harsh realities faced by millions of citizens whose lives and livelihoods have been allegedly devastated under the All Progressives Congress-led government.

The World Bank’s October 2025 report, released on Wednesday, revealed that the number of Nigerians living below the poverty line has risen to 139 million, up from 81 million in 2019.

Reacting swiftly, the Presidency had rejected the figures, describing them as “unrealistic” and not reflective of Nigeria’s current economic situation.

In a post on his official X handle, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, argued that the poverty data cited in the report should be “properly contextualised” within the framework of global poverty assessment models.

However, in its reaction on Thursday, the ADC accused the government of concealing its domestic economic shortcomings with manipulated statistics designed to project false images of progress while citizens continue to endure hardship.

ADC stated, “The African Democratic Congress has been studying the October 2025 World Bank Report, which states that 139 million Nigerians now live below the poverty line, up from 81 million in 2019. That figure, representing 61 per cent of the population, is clear evidence that the economic policies of the Tinubu-led APC government have actually sent more Nigerians into abject poverty, contrary to the government’s performance propaganda and claims of progress.

“The World Bank numbers tell a simple but painful story: under the APC and President Bola Tinubu’s government, more Nigerians have fallen into poverty than at any other time in our history. In 2019, four out of 10 Nigerians were poor. Today, it is, at least, six out of 10.”