Poverty is prevalent in rural Nigeria and women are more affected. Accumulation of assets is an important means by which people can improve their livelihood and come out of poverty. This study investigated the aggregate effect of asset ownership on poverty reduction among female headed household (FHH) in rural Nigeria, using the 2013 GHS data. Descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, Foster, Greer and Thorbeeke and Ordered Probit models at α0.05 were used to analyse 424 FHH. Majority (80.7%) of the FHH were widows. Age and household size were 58±13.7 years and 6±3.4 persons per household, respectively, while 57.8% did not have formal education. The index of asset ownership among the FHH was low. Mean per capita expenditure was N30, 258.6 while the poverty line was N20, 172.4 per annum. Sixty-one percent of the FHH were core-poor, 17.5% were moderately poor and 21.9% were non-poor. Poverty incidence, depth and severity increased as household size increased and decreased with the level of education of the households. Aggregate asset ownership, educational level and membership of a cooperative society were the major poverty-reducing variables among the FHH in rural Nigeria.