The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said that its employment statistics data collection was undisputed by the World Bank as against what the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige said earlier.
In responding to the statement by the Minister of Labour, the NBS also redirects questions to the World Bank for people who might need clarifications.
The statement which the NBS released says that “the World Bank has denied making any such statement and rather together with the economic advisory committee affirmed its confidence, commendation, support and close working relationship with the NBS.”
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The employment claim by the NBS
The NBS had released a report on Nigeria’s unemployment rate at the beginning of 2021 which show a 33.3% rise from 27.1% in Q2 2020. This implies that at the end of 2020 over 23 million Nigerians identify as unemployed.
The Ministry of Labour in Nigeria apparently disagrees with the figures and therefore requested the World Bank to examine the methods of the NBS for employment statistics data collection.
“There has been a little confusion there as to the accuracy of data generated by the NBS”, the Minister said. Chris Ngige also claims that the World Bank says methods used by the NBS do not conform to global standards.