NBS RATES DELTA SECOND RICHEST STATE AFTER LAGOS

The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has ranked Delta as second least poor state in the country.

The Bureau, in its latest Poverty Index Report, ranked Delta second after Lagos among the states with low poverty rate, disclosing that 40.1 per cent of Nigeria’s total population was poor.

According to the organisation, an average of four out of 10 individuals in Nigeria had real per capita expenditures below N137, 430 per year, meaning that monthly income of an individual in this category was less than N11,500 while income per day was put at N383.03.

The report said “Lagos State had 4.50 per cent poverty head count rate, closely trailed by Delta with 6.02 per cent.

In his reaction, the state Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, said the report was a reflection of the Prosperity for all Deltans agenda being vigorously pursued by the Okowa administration.

He also stated that due to the enabling investment climate created by the state government, particularly in oil bearing communities, Delta had been one of the highest revenue earners from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) which also indicated that government had been judiciously utilizing the funds accruing to the state.

Aniagwu thanked the NBS for conducting living standards survey 10 years after the last one and for using consumption expenditures approach in measuring poverty in Nigeria rather than income approach.

The report indicated that Sokoto, Taraba, Jigawa, Ebonyi, Zamfara, Yobe and Adamawa lead the poorest states in the country.

The survey is used to measure prevalence of poverty and to estimate a wide range of socio-economic indicators, including benchmarking of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).