35m Nigerians facing acute food Insecurity, ADC tells Tinubu

By Lateef Ibrahim

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticized the Tinubu administration over rising food prices, stating that recent economic reports demonstrate the government’s lack of viable solutions to the country’s escalating cost of living.

In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party asserted that the administration has “run out of ideas.”

The ADC argued that the government’s current approach—focusing heavily on core inflation figures—fails to prioritize the daily struggles of ordinary Nigerians.

The party called for a comprehensive approach that places food security at the center of national security.

It urged immediate action to boost food production by lowering input, energy, and transportation costs, improving security for farmers, establishing strategic food reserves, and setting measurable targets aimed at making food affordable for consumers while ensuring profitability for local farmers.

The statement by Abdullahi reads in part: “The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has taken note of the latest inflation figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics, which show that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate moderated marginally from 15.91 per cent in June to 15.43 per cent in July.

“We are, however, concerned that the government has continued to stubbornly focus on this statistical indicator, while ignoring the more serious indicator, which confirms that staple foods are still beyond the reach of ordinary citizens.

“While the government celebrates the moderation in headline inflation announced by the NBS, the same report tells a much more troubling story.

“While headline inflation slowed, food inflation accelerated sharply, rising from 17.52 per cent in June to 20.31 per cent in July on a year-on-year basis.

“More disturbingly, food inflation rose from 3.75 per cent in June to 5.56 per cent in July on a month-on-month basis.

“This means that the prices of food items like rice, tomatoes, onions, pepper, beef, eggs, garri, and other basic foods in Nigeria increased by 48% in July alone.

“This report supports an earlier one by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that 35 million Nigerians face acute food insecurity, with millions of children facing malnutrition. That is the economy Nigerians are experiencing under Bola Tinubu’s APC.

“We, therefore, find it most insensitive that the government continues to make claims about economic progress while Nigerians are starving under its watch.

“The Tinubu administration must answer a very simple question: If the government’s economic reforms are working, why are Nigerians still finding it increasingly difficult to afford food?”

The ADC further noted that a responsible government should admit when its policies have failed to yield results, rather than relying on claims of economic progress.

“The Tinubu administration may point to falling headline inflation as evidence that its reforms are working.

“But Nigerians are entitled to look at a different number: the price of food. The responsibility of government is not to explain that contradiction away. It is to fix it,” Abdullahi concluded.