The Director-General of the All Progressives Congress presidential campaign council, Abdulaziz Yari, has said that Nigerians who are not lazy will have food on their tables, as he defended the economic record of President Bola Tinubu.

Yari, a former governor of Zamfara State, spoke on Friday at the APC presidential campaign rally in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital. He argued that food was available in the markets, and that this meant the country could not be said to be going hungry in the way critics describe. He asked the crowd whether anyone had gone to the market with money and found no rice to buy. He said he did not know of any such person in Akwa Ibom, and added that any person who is not lazy will definitely have food to eat.

He conceded that there is hunger in the country, but maintained that the situation was not as bad as it is often portrayed. He also pointed to what he described as a recent fall in food prices as evidence that the administration’s policies were working. He urged Nigerians to vote for Tinubu’s re-election, saying the party would base its campaign on the government’s performance.

The Uyo remarks followed similar comments in Ekiti State on Thursday. There, Yari defended the administration’s record and challenged opposition parties to explain how their policies would differ from those of the government and why Nigerians should hand them power.

His comments come as many households continue to struggle with high food prices and the rising cost of living, and they have sparked debate on social media. Critics have questioned whether hunger in the country can be put down to laziness, while supporters of the administration have pointed to the fall in food prices he cited.