Food Prices: Average Nigerian Income No Longer Enough To Feed Families – Tinubu’s Minister

According to a report by The Daily Post on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, Taiwo Oyedele, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, has admitted that some Nigerian households spend as much as 120 per cent of their income on food as prices continue to climb.

He made the remark recently while speaking at Chatham House in London. According to him, monthly incomes can no longer carry many Nigerians, forcing them to borrow money or lean on relatives to get by.

Oyedele said a government survey found that household spending on food can go beyond what a family earns. “You borrow food before the end of the month,” he said.

He added that this is why policymakers cannot simply fold their arms, noting that officials must recognise the reality of the working poor instead of insisting there is no unemployment problem.

The minister also drew attention to a gap in the latest figures. Headline inflation stood at 14.63 per cent in September, while food inflation was higher at 19.59 per cent.

In his words, headline inflation is falling faster than the price of a basket of tomatoes, gari and beans, a situation he said widens inequality.

Oyedele admitted that although the government is working hard to stabilise the macroeconomy, ordinary Nigerians have yet to feel the effect.

He stressed that macroeconomic stability means little to a mother who still cannot afford food.

DAILY POST reports that while the National Bureau of Statistics showed a drop in headline inflation, food inflation rose sharply in September.

Some experts have questioned the NBS figures, arguing that the real inflation rate is far higher than what was published.

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