Yari never called Nigerian youths lazy – Group insists

By Luminous Jannamike ABUJA — The Senator Yari National Unity Project for Tinubu 2027 has dismissed reports that Senator Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari described Nigerian youths as lazy, accusing sections of the media of misrepresenting his remarks at the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign rally in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. The group said Yari, Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, was speaking about hunger, food availability and the dignity of hard work, rather than disparaging young Nigerians.

In a statement issued by its National Coordinator, Dr Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, the group challenged those circulating the allegation to watch the full footage of Yari’s address, insisting that the senator had acknowledged the economic hardship facing Nigerians before making his remarks on productivity. “He opened his remark by stating plainly: ‘We have hunger.’ At no point in that remark did the Senator mention, single out or describe Nigerian youths.

To turn a statement on the dignity of work, made by a man who had just acknowledged that hunger exists, into the headline ‘Yari calls youths lazy’ is not reporting; it is spin,” the statement said. To support its position, the group cited Yari’s interventions in education, military recruitment, agriculture and public-sector employment, arguing that his record demonstrated his commitment to the welfare and empowerment of young Nigerians.

It also claimed that Yari facilitated the enlistment of 158 young people from Zamfara West into two Nigerian Army recruitment intakes and supported farmers with agricultural inputs and equipment. “A leader who sends thousands of young people to university and into national service does not hold Nigerian youths in contempt; he invests in them,” the statement added.

The group reaffirmed its confidence in Yari and directed its officers nationwide to intensify grassroots mobilisation for President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima ahead of the January 16, 2027 presidential election. It also urged media organisations that published the disputed report to review the full footage of the senator’s address and correct what it described as a misrepresentation.

“Political disagreement is legitimate; misrepresentation is not,” the statement added.