Former minister of communications, Adebayo Shittu, has said the poverty rate in Nigeria is alarming, adding that it has led to the monetisation of elections and vote trading.

Speaking during an interview on Africa Independent Television (AIT), Shittu narrated how someone rang his phone more than 30 times to beg for N3,000.

“Yesterday, before I left home in Ibadan, somebody phoned me from Bauchi and begged me for N1,000. He said for two days, he had not eaten,” Shittu said.

“Again, a week ago, somebody also called. She wanted N3,000. At the time she wanted that money, unbelievably, I didn’t have that money. She called me 30 times in one day.

“It’s not my business to doubt the poverty of such people calling. So when you go to such people to ask for their votes or support, they don’t care what you’re capable of doing. What they are interested in is what they can get out of you today.”

He said the reason he didn't have money to give was because former ministers don't get paid after leaving office, adding that he didn't steal money while in office.

Shittu was minister of communications from 2015 to 2019 in the Muhammadu Buhari administration and was a member of the Oyo House of Assembly.