The presidential candidate of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) Peter Obi has criticised President Bola Tinubu over remarks made to a delegation of Catholic Bishops who visited his office, in which the President said there has always been hunger in Nigeria, even before he was born.
Tinubu had hosted the Catholic Bishops where he addressed key issues he has been accused of including weaponising the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the judiciary, the police and other security agencies against the opposition.
While rejecting those accusations, the president said there has always been hunger and that it did not start with his administration.
Obi, who said he watched the President’s comments “with deep concern,” described it as insensitive and out of touch with the reality on the ground.
While acknowledging that hunger has long been part of Nigerian life, he argued that “such a statement appears insensitive to the plight of the millions of Nigerians who face worsening economic hardship today.”
He said the focus should instead be on “the facts and the measurable outcomes of governance.”
According to Obi, before the current administration assumed office in 2023, an estimated 17 million Nigerians were facing acute food insecurity, driven primarily by insecurity, armed conflict, widespread banditry, and devastating floods.
He said that figure has since risen to about 35 million Nigerians, “less than three years later,” adding that “instead of improving the situation, the crisis has worsened significantly under the current administration.”
He pointed to a similar trend in poverty levels, stating that Nigeria’s extreme poverty stood at an estimated 87 million people before the government took office in 2023.
Current projections, he said, suggest that number is approaching 140 million people, “making Nigeria home to the largest population of people living in extreme poverty anywhere in the world.”
Obi acknowledged that the administration inherited serious challenges but insisted that “leadership is measured not by the challenges inherited but by the results achieved.”
He said the government “must honestly acknowledge that its response has fallen far short of what the situation demanded, with millions more Nigerians pushed deeper into poverty and hunger.”
He attributed the deepening crisis to “the combination of persistent insecurity, poor economic management, fiscal indiscipline, wasteful public expenditure, and inadequate investment in productive sectors,” which he said “have compounded the suffering of ordinary Nigerians.”
The former Anambra State governor called for greater investment in key sectors, stating that “a responsible government must prioritise investment in education, healthcare, agriculture, security, and small businesses while pursuing policies that create jobs, expand production, and lift people out of poverty.”
He added, “That remains my commitment to the Nigerian people.”
(The Whistler)
