Nigeria’s political space heated up this week as opposition parties defended former Vice President Atiku Abubakar against attacks from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over his warning on looming hunger in the country.
The APC had earlier dismissed Atiku’s comments as “reckless, irresponsible and a tacit call for revolution,” accusing him of deliberately stoking unrest to destabilise the Tinubu-led administration. But leaders of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) fired back, saying the APC was only trying to silence critics instead of addressing the real economic pains Nigerians are facing.
Speaking with PUNCH Online, NNPP’s National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, said Atiku did nothing wrong in raising concerns about hunger and hardship. He stressed that statesmen must be bold enough to speak truth to power, arguing that warning the government to act is not the same as calling citizens to arms.
The PDP also rallied to Atiku’s defence. Its Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, accused the APC of being “out of touch with the suffering masses,” adding that Atiku only echoed the daily struggles of millions who can hardly afford two meals a day. He criticised APC leaders for living in isolation from reality while ordinary Nigerians battle rising food prices and an unbearable cost of living.
Atiku, who lost to President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 elections, had warned that the government’s economic policies could trigger public outrage similar to the French and Russian revolutions if hunger persists. While the APC described his remarks as “dangerous and anti-democratic,” the opposition insists he was only giving voice to the frustrations of Nigerians crushed under hardship.
