Many who watched Ruben Abati explode in righteous indignation, Monday, this week on Arise TV Morning Show, would swear he exhibited the complex of “motivated reasoning”.
Well, maybe not. He carried on, in professorial arrogance, as if a catalogue of lifeboats is proof that drowning passengers have been rescued. That is the elementary distinction between announcing interventions and alleviating poverty.
On the account presented, Reuben Abati answered Sumner Shagari Samboʼs poverty argument with lyrical thunder, reeling out interventionist programs and pointedly accused his colleague, then retreated into generalities when Rufai Oseni asked whom he meant.
If accurately recalled, that manoeuvre deserves scrutiny: why throw the spear, then disown its destination? But indignation cannot cross-examine an empty stomach.
The World Bankʼs October brief estimates national poverty at 63 per cent in 2026, against 56.2 per cent in 2023 and 40.1 per cent in 2019. These comparable figures support Samboʼs central concern; they do not establish a record stretching unbroken to 1999.
Fuel costs travel like imperial tax collectors: through farm gates, haulage depots, market stalls and bus parks. Every journey adds another levy to survival.
To be fair, even Abati reportedly acknowledged on the day, that petrolʼs rise from roughly ₦195 to ₦1,400–₦1,500 had driven food prices upward.Yes, programmes exist. Their existence is not their vindication.
New Telegraph reports that the IMF identified 9.2 million enrolled households against a 15 million target; CPPEʼs Muda Yusuf warns that transfers alone cannot overcome structural deprivation. World Bank reporting records millions reached. Yet New Telegraph reports auditors could not authenticate recipients behind ₦33.75 billion because documentation was incomplete; the payment office disputes that implication.
APC chairman Nentawe Yilwatdaʼs explanation that beneficiaries lack phones explains missing online testimony; but it also admits failure rather than prove success. Point is, Abati seems to have great trouble in creating a balance between his argumentative streak and the optics , and sense of his political commentary.
Yes, Cadence and posture cannot establish concealed allegiance. Still, if he meant Sambo, candour required naming him. It seems Abati needs to come out of his rhetorical closet, Abati: disagreement needs no disguise.In a fit of papal eloquence, Abati dared to accuse Sumner of misinformation.
But who is really misinforming the public, in the matter under discourse? Abati seems to forget that the journalistʼs obligation is to inspect the dwelling.Who misinforms? The man who misinforms is he who substitutes a governmentʼs inventory for the citizenʼs outcome.
If we agree with Dr. Sander van der Linden, that misinformation, is information that is false, misleading, or incorrect, encompassing simple errors, then it is clear that Sumner never misinformed Nigerians.
Abati, it was, who attempted to misinform Nigerians, in his now obvious disingenuous style akin to a double agent. Someone should please tell Abati that hunger does not eat announcements.
