The PDP spokesperson stated that the deaths could have been avoided if the APC had inundated the market with the rice launched by the Buhari administration.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to tell Nigerians what happened to the rice pyramids launched by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022.
Debo Ologunagba, PDP’s national publicity secretary, who spoke in a chat with TheCable on Monday, said the demand for such an explanation was necessary owing to the biting hunger and the harsh economic conditions in the country.
Last week, seven persons were reportedly killed in a stampede during the Nigerian Customs Service’s (NCS) distribution of 25kg bags of rice in Lagos.
The PDP spokesperson stated that the deaths could have been avoided if the APC had inundated the market with the rice launched by the Buhari administration.
“Last week, the Nigerian Customs was selling seized rice and seven people died in Lagos. How did we get to that level? The APC government then, led by former President Muhammadu Buhari told us there is abundance of rice production in Abuja,” Ologunagba was quoted by The Cable.
He continued: “The pyramid of rice turns out to be pyramid of lies. They claimed then that food production was surplus because of the intervention of the Anchor Borrowers Scheme from the CBN, which again was laden with corruption.
“If indeed there was abundance of food production as a result of that intervention, why is there hunger in the land?
“Where is the pyramid of rice today? The APC owe Nigerians explanation on this at this crucial period. Billions of naira were expended on the Anchor Borrowers programme but where is the food?”.
Ologunagba, who urged the government to declare a state of emergency on hunger, added that President Bola Tinubu’s administration should address insecurity challenges so that farmers can go to the farm.
“This government should focus on insecurity. If the environment is secured, people will go to their farms, people will be encouraged to travel and look for businesses,” he said.
“People are very hungry and that should be the focus of this government now. This government should as a matter of priority declare a state of emergency on hunger in the land. If people are hungry, there will be frustration and despair and anything can happen.”