By Awyetu Asabe Hope
The African Democratic Congress has criticised the President Bola Tinubu-led administration over rising food prices, accusing the government of focusing on moderating headline inflation while ignoring the worsening cost of food.
The opposition party, in a statement issued on Tuesday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that while headline inflation declined marginally, food inflation continued to rise.
Headline inflation fell from 15.91 per cent in June to 15.43 per cent in July, while food inflation increased from 17.52 per cent to 20.31 per cent year-on-year during the same period.
The party also noted that food inflation rose from 3.75 per cent in June to 5.56 per cent month-on-month in July.
The ADC said the figures did not reflect the economic reality faced by millions of Nigerians struggling to afford basic food items.
It urged the Federal Government to make food affordability a key measure of the success of its economic reforms, arguing that hunger could not be addressed through statistics alone.
The party said the Tinubu administration should acknowledge that its current economic approach had failed to provide the desired relief for ordinary Nigerians.
The ADC also linked rising food prices to food insecurity and malnutrition, citing a Food and Agriculture Organisation report which it said indicated that 35 million Nigerians were facing acute food insecurity.
The party questioned the government’s claims of economic progress, asking why Nigerians were finding it increasingly difficult to afford food if its economic reforms were working.
The ADC said it would prioritise food security as a national security issue if elected, proposing an integrated food production and distribution strategy focused on major staples.
It also promised targeted support for farmers to reduce the cost of fertiliser, seeds, machinery, diesel, transportation and finance.
The party further identified insecurity as a major obstacle to food production, noting that farmers needed to safely access their farms, harvest crops and transport produce to markets.
