ADC Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar
Media adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe, has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his recent comments on hunger and population growth in Nigeria, describing the President’s remarks as insensitive.
In a post shared on his X account on Thursday, Ibe reacted to Tinubu’s statement that hunger existed in Nigeria before he was born and that the government could not control the country’s population growth.
According to him, the President’s comments failed to reflect the current economic realities facing millions of Nigerians.
“President Bola Tinubu’s claim that there was hunger in Nigeria before he was born (even though there’s no certainty about his date of birth) is most insensitive. His assertion that he has no control over population growth is handwringing.”
Ibe argued that while poverty and hunger may have existed before Tinubu assumed office, the current administration had worsened the situation through what he described as poorly conceived policies.
“Even if Nigerians were hungry before his birth, what Tinubu has enthroned through his ill-conceived trial and error policies is a regime of multidimensional hunger and poverty.”
He further accused the President of placing politics ahead of governance, alleging that millions of Nigerians had fallen into poverty since the administration came into office.
“The President, who has prioritised politics over governance needs to be reminded that between 2023 and date, approximately 25 million additional Nigerians were sucked into poverty as a result of his poverty of ideas, with the total number rising from 115 million when he took over in 2023 to an estimated 140–141 million by 2025/2026, according to the World Bank data.”
Questioning the administration’s approach to population growth, Ibe also asked what concrete measures the Federal Government had introduced to address the issue.
“And with reference to population growth, what policy has the Tinubu-led APC administration introduced to stem population growth. All that President Tinubu is doing is quarrelling with his tools.”
The remarks add to the growing political exchanges between the Presidency and opposition figures over the state of Nigeria’s economy and the impact of the current administration’s reforms.
