Naira, Fuel Scarcity to Drive 24 Million Nigerians into Poverty

By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor

A group for the unified analysis of food insecurity situations, which is known as Cadre Harmonise (CH),  has said that no fewer than 24 million Nigerians, including 14,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), would slip into poverty and economic crisis as a result of the persistent naira crisis and fuel scarcity in the country.

This was disclosed in CH’s latest report released on Thursday in Abuja, where the Group explained that the increase in petrol pump price and the non-availability of naira notes are having a huge impact on the well-being of many Nigerians currently.

The survey urged the Federal Government and subnational governments to caution against imminent food insecurity and poverty crisis. CH also noted that the prolonged scarcity of petrol and the associated hike in the pump price of the commodity across Nigerian states has led to a massive rise in transportation fares and the cost of foodstuff in the country’s markets.