Senate President Godswill Akpabio has advised Nigerians to take advantage of free food whenever they encounter it.
He made the remark in a recent video of him presiding over a plenary session in the Senate.
In the video, Akpabio is seen laughing with his colleagues after making the comment.
This advice comes amidst the ongoing economic difficulties faced by Nigerians, largely resulting from President Bola Tinubu’s policies, including the removal of the fuel subsidy.
Recently, Nigeria’s state-owned oil company, NNPC Ltd, raised petrol prices by over 15%, marking the second increase in less than a month. The product is now sold for over N1,000 per litre in various parts of the country, following the government’s move to discontinue the subsidy program, which it claimed had been a significant financial burden.
This is not the first time Akpabio has made similar remarks on public occasions. In July, during the Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities, Youths and Women Group Sensitisation Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the Senate President had jested about Nigerians planning to protest economic hardship. He remarked that while protests occurred, he and other National Assembly members would be “eating.”
“Those who want to protest can protest, but let us be here eating,” the former Akwa Ibom State governor had said.
