The Obidient Movement has condemned the Presidency for mocking Nigerians facing worsening hardship brought about by the unfriendly economic policies of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

The Movement’s Media and Communications Directorate disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday titled, ‘From Renewed Hope to Renewed Denial: Tinubu’s Government Cannot Wish Away the Hunger and Insecurity Facing Nigerians.’

The statement was in response to a comment by one of Mr Tinubu’s spokesmen, Bayo Onanuga, on Arise TV on Tuesday, when he said he “does not see the level of hunger people are complaining about”, which the Peter Obi-led group described as an insult to citizens currently struggling to survive.

The statement read, “The Obidient Movement strongly condemns the recent statement by presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, on Arise TV that he “does not see the level of hunger people are complaining about.” Such a remark is a profound insult to millions of Nigerians struggling daily to survive.

“More importantly, it confirms what many citizens already believe: this administration is dangerously detached from the realities confronting the people it governs. At a time when families are skipping meals, businesses are shutting down, and insecurity continues to ravage communities, such denial is both insensitive and irresponsible.

“Unfortunately, it underscores the gross insensitivity and disdain that the current government have towards Nigerians who continue to suffer as a result of this government’s rudderless leadership.

“Before the APC assumed power in 2015, Nigeria certainly had challenges, but basic necessities remained within the reach of ordinary citizens. A bag of rice sold for about N8,500, bread for about N150, a crate of eggs for about N300, while the naira exchanged at roughly N197 to the US dollar. Small businesses survived, and millions could still afford basic food.”

The Movement, which stated that the Tinubu government has become “The new S.I. unit of kakistocracy in history”, added that, “Today, the naira trades at over N1,400 to the dollar, inflation has devastated purchasing power, turning basic food into luxury items. Businesses are buckling under soaring energy costs, multiple taxation, exchange-rate instability, and declining consumer demand, while multinational companies continue to exit the country.”

Quoting World Bank and PwC figures that put the number of Nigerians living below the poverty line at over 140 million, the body lamented that, “Parents are unable to feed their children, families are being pushed deeper into hardship, and citizens are so desperate that loaves of bread have become campaign inducements by the APC, as was recently seen in Ekiti State.”

It also said that the “sadistic regime” claims security has improved, but terrorists, bandits, and criminal gangs continue to terrorise communities across the country, with hundreds of victims still in captivity, including schoolchildren, while farming communities have been displaced, thereby worsening food shortages and inflation.

The group said that the government has failed in its primary duty of improving the welfare and security of Nigerians, adding that, “No amount of public relations can erase the empty dinner tables. No media spin can can persuade hungry Nigerians that hunger does not exist, or comfort families whose loved ones remain in captivity.”

It urged the government not to dismiss the suffering of Nigerians but to “Confront the consequences of its policies, restore economic stability, improve security, and rebuild public trust. We know it is incapable of doing that, but it can at least, pretend to try.”