This work is propelled by the alarming rate at which poverty has continued to increase, thereby aiding socio-economic challenges in Nigeria. The work through the application of the ARDL and ECM framework of data analysis on secondary data sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria, calibrated the impact of international trade on poverty reduction in Nigeria from 1981-2021. The result of the study has proven that the relationship between the nation's non-oil export and poverty is negative. However, evidence from the study more so alludes that the country's export of crude oil overtime has not had any meaningful effect of reducing poverty in Nigeria, rather the rate of poverty has continued to rise with the increase in oil exports. Empirical evidence from the study further revealed that Nigeria's imports within the scope of the work has had a significant negative relationship with poverty, which negates the theoretical condition of their expected relationship. Hence, to overturn this positive trend between oil exports and poverty rate, the Nigerian government needs to train and equip the unskilled poor Nigerian with requisite skills and knowledge that would make them gainfully employed in the oil industry, more so the country is admonished to restrict its imports to just commodities that cannot be produced locally.