Peter Obi, the 2027 presidential candidate of Nigeria’s Democratic Congress (NDC), criticises President Bola Tinubu’s recent comments about hunger in Nigeria, calling them insensitive. Obi reacts to a statement Tinubu makes during a meeting with members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Tinubu tells the bishops that hunger has existed in Nigeria even before he was born.
Obi acknowledges that hunger is not new and has affected the country for decades, but argues that dismissing the current crisis in that way shows a lack of empathy for Nigerians facing worsening economic hardship. He links the concern to rising food insecurity and poverty during Tinubu’s time in office. Obi says acute food insecurity increases from about 17 million Nigerians before Tinubu took office in 2023 to roughly 35 million, and that extreme poverty rises from about 87 million in 2023 to nearly 140 million.
He attributes the deterioration to factors including insecurity, poor economic management, fiscal indiscipline, wasteful spending, and insufficient investment in key sectors, and calls for the government to prioritise areas such as education, healthcare, agriculture, security, and support for small businesses to improve livelihoods and reduce poverty.
