Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the distribution of 100 trucks of rice and ₦1.2bn cash support to northern states by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, saying the gesture amounts to politicising the suffering of Nigerians rather than addressing the root causes of hardship.
His position was contained in a statement issued in Abuja by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, at a time when concerns are growing over rising food costs, inflation, and worsening living conditions, particularly in northern Nigeria where insecurity and reduced agricultural output have deepened food shortages.
The First Lady had, a day earlier, launched the distribution exercise targeting vulnerable households across the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory ahead of Eid-el-Kabir. The initiative was done in collaboration with the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Political and Other Matters, Ibrahim Masari.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony in Kaduna, Oluremi Tinubu said the intervention was meant to reflect the values of sacrifice, compassion and solidarity associated with Eid-el-Kabir, adding that state coordinating committees would oversee distribution to ensure the items reach the intended beneficiaries.
However, Atiku, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, strongly disagreed with the move, describing it as a “subtle weaponisation of hunger” and a political strategy.
He said, “What Nigerians are witnessing today is the tragic normalisation of poverty under the administration of President Bola Tinubu. Families can no longer afford basic meals, inflation has ravaged household incomes, and millions are being pushed daily into extreme deprivation. “Yet, instead of addressing the structural causes of this crisis, the government has chosen the path of optics—distributing food in carefully choreographed ceremonies while the underlying suffering deepens.”
He further argued that farmers in the North have suffered reduced productivity since 2023 due to insecurity and policy failures, which he said has forced many off their lands and weakened food supply chains.
Atiku added that instead of tackling these challenges, authorities were allegedly turning relief materials into political tools.
“Ironically, the same government and its promoters now seek to exploit the resulting hardship by turning food into a campaign tool. What the North truly needs is genuine, sustainable food security policies—not campaign lunch packs wrapped in party insignia.”
