Presidency rebukes newspaper over ‘distorted’ editorial on hunger, economy

The Presidency has strongly criticised a recent editorial by a national daily, accusing it of misrepresenting Nigeria’s economic realities and disregarding ongoing government efforts to tackle hardship across the country.

Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, described the editorial as “exaggerated and misleading.”

Dare noted that while the Presidency welcomes constructive criticism from the media, it must be anchored in truth, context, and national responsibility rather than, in his words, “sensational narratives designed to inflame public sentiment.”

“The Tinubu administration respects the right of the media to hold government accountable. But that right comes with the duty to present facts fairly,” the statement read.

“Responsible journalism should empower citizens with accurate information, not deepen despair through distortion.”

The Presidency said the widely publicised claim in the editorial—that 33 million Nigerians, including 16 million children, are at risk of hunger—was a worst-case projection from the Cadre Harmonisé Food Security Analysis, not a present reality.

According to Dare, the report—jointly produced by the Federal Government, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), and UNICEF—was based on the assumption that no government intervention would occur.

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“In reality, the government has taken bold steps to prevent that projection from materialising,” he said.

The statement listed measures already implemented: the release of over 42,000 metric tons of grains from the national reserve; procurement of an additional 117,000 metric tons; activation of the Presidential Food Security Council; and targeted nutrition support in high-risk states such as Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Sokoto, Bauchi, and Katsina.

On the economy, the Presidency rejected the editorial’s description of the naira as “worthless,” calling it “misleading and inaccurate.”

It recalled that the currency, which fell to N1,800/$1 in March 2024, had rebounded to N1,525\$1 as of August 2025.

“This recovery has been driven by reforms that restored investor confidence, unified the foreign exchange market, increased oil receipts, boosted remittances, and cleared over $4 billion in forex backlogs,” the statement said.

The Presidency also cited ongoing social protection initiatives aimed at cushioning the impact of economic reforms and rising global food prices. These include:

– N75,000 payments to 3 million vulnerable households under the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer scheme;
– Tuition fee support for 396,000 students via the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND);
– Grants for over 250,000 MSMEs in 2025; and
– The National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, which serves 9.8 million pupils in 53,000 schools, employing 200,000 local cooks and supporting thousands of smallholder farmers.

The statement further highlighted the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme (RHWDP), recently approved by President Tinubu and endorsed by the National Economic Council (NEC).

The RHWDP targets all 8,809 wards in the country with grassroots interventions in agriculture, rural infrastructure, electricity, job creation, and poverty alleviation—aiming to empower at least 1,000 active individuals per ward, boost local manufacturing, and fast-track Nigeria’s journey to a \$1 trillion economy by 2030.

While acknowledging that many Nigerians are still facing hardship, the Presidency urged the media to maintain fairness and balance in their reports during this “period of economic transition.”

“Nigeria is healing. The pain of reform is real, but so is the progress. Hope is not just a slogan, it is visible in the stabilising naira, in millions of families receiving support, in students staying in school, and in farmers returning to the fields.”

“This administration does not demand silence in the face of hardship. It only asks for fairness and a shared commitment to rebuilding, not just amplifying despair.”

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