(Peter Obi. Photo by Sky News)
NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi has stated that despite President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a food security emergency and the achievements claimed in the agricultural sector over the past three years, Nigeria’s hunger situation has worsened significantly.
Obi noted that while Tinubu listed the acquisition of 2,000 tractors and 9,000 farming implements as part of Nigeria’s largest agricultural mechanisation programme among his third anniversary achievements, the results on the ground tell a different story.
According to him, Nigeria’s hunger index ranking stood at 103rd out of 123 countries surveyed in 2022/2023 but has since deteriorated to 115th out of 123 countries in 2025/2026, placing Nigeria among the world’s most food-insecure nations.
He added that the World Bank has forecast that 33 million Nigerians could experience severe hunger, and that Nigeria currently has the highest number of hungry people in the world.
“I have always maintained that Nigeria has no reason to be seen among the hungriest nations in the world when we have vast, uncultivated land in the north, which is our greatest asset today.
We must transparently invest in agricultural production, which will guarantee food security but also create huge employment,” Obi said.