95% of Nigerians lack N500,000 in banks — Ex-finance minister

Only about five per cent of Nigerians have more than N500,000 in their bank accounts, according to former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun.

Edun made the disclosure during an interview with Channels Television on Friday while discussing the distribution of wealth and the impact of the Federal Government’s economic reforms.

He argued that a large proportion of Nigerians had been excluded from the benefits of economic growth over the years, while financial resources became concentrated among a small segment of the population.

According to him, data on bank account balances showed that only a small minority had savings exceeding N500,000.

“Only about 5% of the population have bank accounts that have more than half a million in them. So, the majority was left out for eight years. They are on the sidelines while a small minority enjoyed,” Edun said.

The former minister said President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies were aimed at correcting some of the structural problems that had contributed to the imbalance.

He explained that government revenues previously kept outside the Federal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund had been brought back into government accounts as part of efforts to strengthen public finances.

Edun also highlighted various intervention programmes introduced by the administration to provide direct financial support to households affected by economic hardship.

He said one of the programmes provides beneficiaries with N25,000 monthly for three months, amounting to N75,000 per household.

According to him, about 15 million households are targeted under the intervention, potentially reaching approximately 75 million Nigerians.

Edun maintained that the measures were part of broader efforts to ensure that government resources reached more Nigerians rather than remaining concentrated among a relatively small section of the population.