Tinubu Spent Three Years on Food Emergency Yet Nigeria Now Among World’s Hungriest Nations Obi Claims

The presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 election, Peter Obi, has accused President Bola Tinubu of failing to deliver on his food security emergency declaration, pointing to new data that shows Nigeria has slipped even deeper into the global hunger rankings despite three years of agricultural interventions.

In a statement issued on June 11, 2026, Obi noted that President Tinubu had listed agricultural achievements as part of his administration’s three year record, including a food security emergency declared in July 2023 and the acquisition of 2,000 tractors and 9,000 farming implements, which the government described as Nigeria’s largest agricultural mechanisation programme. However, Obi argued that the outcome of these efforts has been the opposite of what was promised.

Citing global hunger index figures, Obi said Nigeria was ranked 103rd out of 123 countries surveyed in the 2022 to 2023 period, but that ranking has worsened to 115th out of 123 countries in the 2025 to 2026 survey. As a result, he said, Nigeria is now classified among the world’s most food insecure nations, with the World Bank forecasting that 33 million Nigerians could experience severe hunger. Obi further stated that Nigeria currently has the highest number of hungry people of any country in the world.

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The NDC presidential candidate insisted that Nigeria has no reason to be counted among the hungriest nations when vast uncultivated land exists in the north, which he described as the country’s greatest asset. He called for transparent investment in agricultural production, arguing that such investment would not only guarantee food security but also create massive employment opportunities. He ended his statement with his trademark slogan, saying a new Nigeria is possible.

The Tinubu administration has not yet issued an official response to Obi’s claims. However, government officials have previously attributed rising food prices and hunger to global inflation, climate change affecting farming seasons, and the lingering effects of subsidy removal, which freed up funds for agricultural infrastructure. Critics of the administration have countered that three years should have been enough time to show measurable improvement, especially given the scale of resources committed to the food emergency.

As of this report, the National Bureau of Statistics has not released an independent verification of the hunger index figures cited by Obi, but the World Bank’s projection of 33 million Nigerians facing severe hunger aligns with warnings issued by international agencies earlier this year. With food inflation still in double digits and staple prices remaining high, the debate over who is to blame for Nigeria’s hunger crisis is likely to intensify as the 2027 election cycle approaches.

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