Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the Federal Government’s distribution of food palliatives, describing it as a “politicisation of poverty” rather than a solution to Nigeria’s economic challenges.

Atiku’s position was conveyed in a statement issued on Friday, Workers’ Day, by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu.

He was reacting to the recent initiative by the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, involving the distribution of 100 trucks of rice and N1.2 billion in palliatives to northern states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Atiku described the move as a “calculated political performance staged on the altar of mass hardship,” accusing the administration of focusing on optics instead of addressing underlying economic issues.

“What Nigerians are witnessing today is the tragic normalization of poverty under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” he said.

“Families can no longer afford basic meals, inflation has ravaged household incomes, and millions are being pushed daily into extreme deprivation.”

He argued that rather than implementing structural reforms, the government had resorted to “carefully choreographed” distribution exercises that fail to tackle the root causes of hardship.

“Instead of addressing the structural causes of this crisis, the government has chosen the path of optics—distributing food… while the underlying suffering deepens,” Atiku stated.

The former vice president also linked food insecurity in the North to declining agricultural productivity, which he attributed to insecurity and policy failures.

“Vast agricultural belts have been abandoned to insecurity, leaving farmers displaced and food supply chains severely weakened,” he said.

He further alleged that similar initiatives in the past, including food distributions during Ramadan, were early signs of a broader strategy to “weaponise hunger.”

“Let it be said without equivocation: Nigerians are not beggars to be pacified with periodic handouts while their livelihoods collapse,” he added..