The Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Abdulaziz Yari, has said Nigerians who are not lazy should be able to put food on their tables, despite economic hardship and the rising cost of living.
Yari made the remark at the APC presidential campaign rally in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. He acknowledged that many Nigerians were experiencing hunger but argued that food remained available in markets.
Addressing party supporters, the former Zamfara State governor asked whether residents had gone to markets with money and been unable to buy food because it was unavailable.
He said the availability of food in markets meant the problem should not necessarily be described as a shortage.
“Just as I said, we have hunger. Let me ask a question here. Akwa Ibom people, from where I came from, we have food in the market,” he said.
Yari asked whether anyone in the state had struggled to find basic food items, particularly rice, despite having money to buy them.
“I don’t know, in Akwa Ibom, is there any person who took his money to the market and found out there’s no rice? You didn’t answer me.
“Is there anybody with money in his pocket who goes to the market to get foodstuffs and says that there’s no foodstuffs in the market?” he asked.
He said a lack of food in markets would constitute hunger, adding that people who were not lazy should be able to afford food.
“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,” Yari said.
His remarks came amid widespread concern over rising food prices and the impact of economic hardship on Nigerian households.
