FG unveils poverty intelligence hub to target 140m Nigerians with AI-driven data, cash transfers, and 2030 poverty plan.
The Federal Government has launched a new National Poverty Intelligence Hub designed to find, track, and support Nigeria’s poorest citizens with real-time data.
The hub was unveiled at the National Technical Workshop on the One Humanitarian–One Poverty Response System (OHOPRS), held from March 24 to 27, 2026, at the United Nations House in Abuja.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard Doro, told stakeholders the system will replace scattered programmes with one coordinated platform. At its core is a National Data Centre housing an Embedded National Poverty Intelligence Lab.
The lab will turn raw data into actionable evidence for programme design, poverty graduation, and sustainable livelihoods. The Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is providing technical support for its design.
Why now?
Nigeria’s poverty numbers remain stark. The Statistician-General, Adeyemi Adeniran, said over 103 million Nigerians are currently living in poverty.
The World Bank puts it higher. In its April 2026 Nigeria Development Update, the bank said poverty hit 63 percent in 2025, affecting an estimated 140 million people. The figure rose from 56 percent in 2023 to 61 percent in 2024 before peaking last year.
Government says the hub is the answer to years of fragmented data and manual targeting.
How the hub will work
Officials say the intelligence lab will not rely on paper lists alone. It will use artificial intelligence, satellite imagery, and telecoms data to locate poor households, especially in urban slums.
Minister Doro’s predecessor, Nentawe Yilwatda, earlier explained the method: "We used satellite imagery to locate urban slums, then base stations and telecoms data to identify phone numbers in those locations".
AI then verifies those numbers against access to financial services and other indicators.
Because of this, the national social register has grown from 13 million to 19.7 million people, now covering both rural and urban communities.
Who gets help?
The government is targeting 15 million households about 75 million Nigerians with its anti-poverty programmes.
Each household on the food-poverty list will receive N75,000 in conditional cash transfers. The minister said while the amount may look small in cities, “in rural areas, it makes a difference”.
Joint research with the World Bank showed 18 percent of recipients started nano businesses, 82 percent improved food security, and 52 percent paid school fees with the money.
Unified register and funding
Alongside the hub, the FG unveiled a unified national poverty register and proposed a N3.2 trillion humanitarian and poverty reduction trust fund.
The fund is expected to come from the federal budget (N1.5trn), development partners (N800bn), private sector (N600bn), and climate funds (N300bn).
At the workshop, the Special Assistant on Finance, Christopher Mantur, said over ten trillion naira would be needed to implement the 2030 plan effectively.
The new system will also deliver a real-time poverty dashboard, coordinated humanitarian responses, and early warning for economic shocks.
The 2030 target
The Federal Government has restated its commitment to lift 50 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030 through this data-led system.
Minister of State, Dr. Tanko Sununu, said climate change and insecurity are worsening poverty, making a unified approach urgent.
UN representatives at the meeting called for sustained collective action, while state commissioners, including Kaduna’s Yunana Barde, pledged to align grassroots implementation.
Government officials insist the shift is from "poverty alleviation" which reduces pain to "poverty reduction," which moves people out entirely.
For millions of Nigerians living below the line, the success of this intelligence hub will be measured not by dashboards, but by whether the cash, skills, and opportunities actually reach their homes.
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