Abdulaziz Yari, the Director-General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, has dismissed cries of widespread hunger in the country, saying citizens who are not lazy should have food on their tables.

Mr Yari, at the APC Presidential campaign rally in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State, on Saturday, said food is available in the markets.

“I don’t know, in Akwa Ibom, are there any person who took his money to the market and found out there is no rice? Are there anybody with his money in his pocket, go to the market to get foodstuff and say that there is no foodstuff in the market?,” Mr Yari said.

The APC campaign DG said “If there is no food in the market, that is what we are calling hunger. But anyone who is not a lazy person, definitely he will have food on his table.”

However, Mr Tinubu has admitted that economic hardships in the country are a necessary sacrifice for a better future.

Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesperson for opposition African Democratic Congress party, on X, said “Here is the DG of Tinubu campaign telling Nigerians that the reason they are hungry is because they are lazy.”

“Do we require any further evidence that the APC has lost touch with the reality of Nigerians? They dance buga while the people go hungry and then blame them for their own suffering,” he added.

A statement published on World Bank’s website on Nigeria Development Update in 2025 highlighted that economic hardship, poverty and food insecurity remain critical issues under Mr Tinubu’s watch. 

“Many households continue to face hardship, with poverty and food insecurity remaining high,” the World Bank said. “Food inflation remains a major concern: poor households—who spend up to 70% of their income on food—have seen the cost of a basic food basket rise fivefold between 2019 and 2024.”