Former Central Bank Of Nigeria and Present Governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Soludo in an article titled “History beckons and I will not be silent ” wrote about the poverty level of Anambra state from 2006 to 2010 while the present Presidential Candidate of the Labor Party, Peter Obi was in his first term as governor of Anambra state.
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In an article which many described as either very needless as they claimed Charles Soludo is merely bitter and angry, others praised it as they said it brought into public light numerous false misconceptions by Peter Obi’s supporters.
Either way, his comment on the statistics of the poverty level in Anambra, got tongues wagging and fingers typing (mine included) and a lot of people have said the former CBN governor simply lied (but did he?)
Claim: Charles Soludo wrote that “…poverty in Anambra actually grew (from less than 25% in 2005) to about 53% under Peter Obi in 2010/2011 but fell under Willie Obiano to 14.78% in 2020. Yes, poverty more than doubled under Peter Obi and more than 50% of Ndi Anambra were in poverty under him. Go and verify”
This isn’t all as he had wrote something similar in 2015 in an article titled “Buhari vs Jonathan: Beyond the Election” where he wrote that “According to the National Bureau of Statistics, poverty rose under his watch in Anambra from 20% in 2004 (lowest in Nigeria then) to 68% in 2010 (a 238% deterioration!).”
These two quotes seem similar but can also be be different as the numbers dont match but if we look closely, in the 2022 letter, he mentioned 2010/2011 which was mostly measured in 2011 and in the 2015 letter, he was specific about the year 2010.
Verification: According to a press briefing By then Statistician General of the federation and lead of the National Bureau of Statistics, Yemi Kale in a press briefing titled “Press Briefing By The Statistician-General Of The Federation/Chief Executive
Officer, National Bureau Of Statictics Dr. Yemi Kale” delivered in February 2012.
Now since the NBS does not release poverty levels per years, we can only judge with the 2010 report
It is seen that the poverty level of Anambra state as at 2010 was at 68% (see image below) which matches the value quoted by Professor Charles Soludo in his 2015 article.
Verdict: The statement by the Anambra state governor, Professor Soludo claiming that the poverty level in Anambra while Peter Obi was governor rose to 68% in 2010 and 53% in 2010/2011 can be said to be true and not an exaggeration.
Also notable is that when Peter Obi responded to Professor Soludo in 2015, he did not refute the poverty percentage.
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