Senator Abdulaziz Yari, Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council and former Governor of Zamfara State, has sparked intense political debate following comments that industrious Nigerians will not go hungry under the current economic conditions.
Speaking on Saturday, November 7, 2026, during an APC campaign event in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Yari addressed crowds while defending President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic administration ahead of the 2027 general elections. Yari argued that true hunger is defined by a lack of food in the market rather than high food prices or reduced purchasing power.
Addressing attendees at the rally, Yari posed a direct question to the local audience: ”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. I don’t know, in Akwa Ibom, is there any person who took his money to the market and found out there is 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 continued by redefining the public perception of the nation’s economic hardship: “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.” Urging citizens to grant the APC and President Tinubu a second mandate in 2027, Yari maintained that the ruling party remains prepared to defend its performance scorecard. He encouraged political opposition groups to focus on presenting constructive alternative economic policies rather than criticising government initiatives.
The statement drew swift condemnation from opposition figures. Responding to the viral footage of the rally, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesperson for the African Democratic Congress (ADC), accused the APC campaign chief of insensitivity toward the daily economic realities of everyday citizens.
“Do we require any further evidence that the APC has lost touch with the reality of Nigerians?” Abdullahi asked. “They dance buga while the people go hungry and then blame them for their own suffering.”
