The Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Abdulaziz Yari, has stirred controversy after declaring that Nigerians who are not lazy should be able to afford food despite the worsening economic hardship.
Yari made the remark at an APC presidential campaign rally in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, where he admitted that hunger existed but argued that food was still available in markets across the country.
The former Zamfara State governor challenged residents to identify anyone who had gone to the market with money but returned without buying food because the items were unavailable.
He specifically asked whether anyone with money had visited a market and failed to find rice or other foodstuffs.
Yari argued that the situation should not be described as food scarcity as long as food items remained available for purchase.
“If there’s no food in the market, that’s what we are calling hunger. But anyone who is not a lazy person, definitely he would have food on his table,” he said.
His comments come amid growing public anger over soaring food prices, inflation and the rising cost of living, which have left many Nigerian households struggling to afford basic necessities.
The remarks are likely to attract criticism from Nigerians who argue that the major problem is not the availability of food in markets but the inability of millions of citizens to afford it.
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