President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday in Benin said his administration has reduced poverty rate by 50 per cent.

Jonathan said this while speaking at the South South Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) political rally in Benin, tagged ‘Unity Mega Rally.’

He said that the PDP, as a party, believed in stomach infrastructure because the party must ensure that there was food security and job creation in the country.

Jonathan responds to cheers at the Benin rally

A reality check of the president’s claim about reducing poverty by 50 per cent shows that it is an unsettled area between World Bank and Nigerian economists. While the World Bank estimates the number of poor in the country at about 100 million people as at last year, Nigerian officials put the figure
at 33 per cent of the population, which will be about 50 million people. Perhaps the President was quoting from his government statistics.

But five months ago,the World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim, at the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings restated what recent past statistics have shown: that Nigeria is one of the top five countries that has the largest number of poor.

Nigeria, he said ranked third in the world while India ranked number one with 33 per cent of the world poor. China is ranked second with 13 per cent of the world’s poor, followed by Nigeria where seven per cent of the world poor live in. Bangladesh has six per cent share of the world’s poor while the Democratic Republic of Congo has five per cent of the world’s poor population.

Jim Yong Kim said these five countries are home to 760 million of the world’s poor, adding that another five countries, Indonesia, Pakistan, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Kenya would encompass almost 80 per cent of the extreme poor.

President Jonathan speaking further at the rally, said the PDP remains the only stable party since its formation that had never changed its name, logo or motto, adding that it is the only party that gives its members the freedom to climb to the highest level.

He said that all the nation needed was unity, and gave the assurance that although all the roads could not be rehabilitated at once, his administration would continue to improve on all infrastructure in the country.

He also gave the assurance that since the nation was able to conquer the Ebola Virus Disease, it would also conquer the Boko Haram insurgency.

The president however appealed to the party loyalists to be decent in their various electioneering competitions in order not to create enemies among themselves.

Earlier, Vice President Namadi Sambo said the present administration had completed seven power projects with a total of 2,000 mega watts for the South South under the Transformation Agenda.

Similarly, Senate President David Mark described Jonathan as ‘’ a good sell’’ hence his unanimous adoption by the party as its sole candidate for 2015.

The PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, described the president as a bridge builder and unifying factor.

He said that all defectors to the party would be integrated without bias.

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party, Chief Tony Anenih, said the zone had every reason to be proud of its contribution to national development.

He also said that the zone had made sacrifice to keep the country together as well as contributed to the economic growth.

President Jonathan had earlier inaugurated the Benin-Ofusu Dual carriage, where Gov Adams Oshiomhole of Edo described the quality of work done as impressive.

The rally was attended by who is who in the PDP both in the state and in the country, including serving and past governors, national assembly members, as well as aspirants.