Posted by Samuel on Sun 21st Sep, 2025 - tori.ng
APC had on Monday branded Atiku’s warning about worsening hunger “reckless, irresponsible and a tacit instigation of revolution,” accusing him of stoking unrest to destabilise the Tinubu administration.
The political clash between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition has escalated, as leaders of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) criticized the APC’s response to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s warning on looming hunger.
APC had on Monday branded Atiku’s warning about worsening hunger “reckless, irresponsible and a tacit instigation of revolution,” accusing him of stoking unrest to destabilise the Tinubu administration.
But opposition leaders said the ruling party was only trying to gag critics and deflect attention from Nigeria’s economic crisis.
Speaking in an exclusive interview on Saturday with PUNCH Online, National Publicity Secretary of the NNPP, Ladipo Johnson said Atiku did nothing wrong in giving such a warning.
He said, “I do not think Atiku would be involved in inciting the Nigerian citizenry. As an elder statesman, I trust that he will not go that far. However, statesmen, when need be, must be bold enough to stand up and speak truth to power.
“They must be bold enough to tell the country what the situation of the country is, where things are lacking, and need improvement. I do not think that the APC should enjoy the luxury of simply trying to blackmail anyone who raises genuine fears about the situation of the country.
“If one says that there is hunger in the land and people are suffering, I do not think that has gone too far. If someone is warning that please do something as a government, it is just a warning. It is not a call to arms.”
The PDP also rose in Atiku’s defence, accusing the APC of being out of touch with the suffering masses.
Deputy National Youth Leader of the PDP, Timothy Osadolor, also declared that Atiku merely “gave voice to the thoughts of millions who can hardly afford two meals a day.”
“It is shameful and painful at the same time when you see people entrusted with public trust, taking care of public finances, and taxpayers’ money, acting and behaving the way these members of the current APC government are doing. Because they live in a cocoon, they are very much isolated from the realities of everyday Nigeria.
“Now, all Atiku actually said, or what he actually did, is giving a voice to the thoughts of millions of Nigerians spread across the length and breadth of this country, who find it nearly impossible to survive with two square meals a day.
“The truth is that the cost of living in this country has reached a point that if something is not done about it, we may soon become a beggarly nation.
“They are only vilifying and harassing Atiku because they know that what he said is true, and they don’t want Nigerians to have a voice.
“If they are very confident that they have done well, let them write to the Inspector General of Police to withdraw the orderlies and the hundreds of policemen guarding them, so they can walk free, and let’s really know if the people are truly happy with them,” he stated.
Atiku, who lost to President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 polls, had warned that the government’s economic policies could spark public outrage comparable to the French and Russian revolutions if hunger and hardship remain unchecked.
But while the APC dismissed his remarks as “dangerous and anti-democratic,” the opposition insists he merely echoed the anger of millions of Nigerians who can barely afford food under the Tinubu administration.