Utomi Decries Hardship as Oyedele Says Poor Nigerians Spend 120% of Income on Food

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Renowned political economist, Pat Utomi, has called for an improved standard of living for Nigerians following a recent remark by Taiwo Oyedele, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, that poor households in the country spend as much as 120 per cent of their income on food.

Speaking during an engagement at Chatham House in London, Oyedele had said a government survey showed that poor households spend as much as 120 per cent of their income on food.

The minister was responding to a question about the federal government’s investment in data to understand the micro-level effects of its policies on underserved communities.

In a video of the over one-hour engagement, which he shared on his X page on Sunday, Oyedele did not disclose when the survey was conducted but said it was carried out by the current administration.

“The guys who are middle class and rich don’t even think about food. Because how much do you spend on food? Maybe one or two per cent of their income,” he said.

“For the poor people, that is 100 per cent. In fact, there was a survey we did that shows that up to 120 per cent of household income is spent on food.

“Like, how do you spend 120 per cent of your income? You borrow food before the end of the month?”

Reacting in a terse post on X yesterday, Utomi said: “So sad, our people deserve better.”

Meanwhile, Oyedele said credible data was essential to effective policymaking, warning that decisions made without reliable information could fail to reflect the realities facing Nigerians.

“If data is missing, or credible data is not at the table, you are not doing policy; you are having a communion,” he said.

The minister said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which conducts living standards surveys and produces the Multidimensional Poverty Index, had struggled to secure funding for surveys needed to guide government policies.

He said he took an interest in the bureau’s work shortly after assuming office as finance minister because he relied heavily on its data.

“I called them, and one of the things they told me was that they were not being funded. They struggle to find the money to conduct the surveys we need,” he said.

“Imagine that inflation is one of our biggest problems in Nigeria. To tackle inflation, you need data. You have the Consumer Price Index, which tells you price levels, but it does not tell you much about why those prices are going up.”

Oyedele said some countries use the Producer Price Index to determine the extent to which inflation is driven by rising production costs. He added that such data could help prevent policymakers from repeatedly raising interest rates in ways that worsen existing economic challenges.

He said he was encouraged by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) move from monetary targeting to inflation targeting.

Oyedele added that the CBN and the Finance Ministry were working together to tackle inflation and understand its effects on underserved communities.

“We are working on it, we are not there yet. But you will see as we roll out the data and use it for decision making,” he said.

The minister also said Nigeria’s relatively low unemployment rate masked the extent of poverty in the country.

“One important data point that people sometimes misunderstand in Nigeria is that the unemployment rate is low. It is about five per cent, comparable to the UK,” he said.

“But the poverty rate is high; it is over 50 per cent. That tells you something. As a policymaker, you don’t sit back and say we don’t have unemployment.

“You have the working poor. You know, it is even worse when you are working and you are poor. It is better you are not working and poor; at least you know that you are resting.”