Special Report
Tinubu Has Outperformed Buhari, Jonathan, Others – APC Spokesman
The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Felix Morka, has declared that President Bola Tinubu has outperformed every democratically elected Nigerian president in his first term.
Morka made the claim on Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he defended the economic policies of the Tinubu administration amid widespread concerns over the rising cost of living.
According to him, Tinubu inherited an economy in severe distress and has demonstrated the political will to address structural problems that previous administrations allegedly avoided.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has outperformed any president in his first term. He has outperformed any democratically elected president in this country in their terms,” Morka said.
He argued that the performance of the administration could be assessed through various economic indicators, insisting that the results of Tinubu’s reforms would become more evident with time.
“The indicators are res ipsa loquitur as we say in law; they speak for themselves. This president inherited an economy that was completely in a mess,” he added.
Morka attributed Nigeria’s economic difficulties to what he described as years of poor governance, while portraying former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as an interim effort to stabilise the country after 16 years of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rule.
“Buhari was a stopgap president that really came to keep the country from tipping over the precipice—from 16 years of horrific maladministration of the PDP government,” he said.
The APC spokesman maintained that the hardship currently being experienced by Nigerians was part of the process of restructuring the economy, likening the reforms to renovating a house.
“The fact of the matter is that this President on day one told Nigerians that things would be tough. Things have been tough. But like anyone who understands the whole logic of renovation, when you renovate your house, first, you make a mess,” he said.
According to Morka, Tinubu had chosen to confront Nigeria’s economic challenges at their roots rather than pursue policies designed merely to win public approval.
He said the administration’s focus on macroeconomic reforms would eventually improve conditions at the microeconomic level, arguing that sustainable improvement in household welfare could only come after the wider economy had been stabilised.
Morka further claimed that Tinubu would ultimately emerge as “the most honest, the most candid, the most effective President this country has seen in her Republic.”
When asked whether his assessment meant Tinubu was better than former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, Morka said he was not ranking the former leaders individually.
However, he argued that previous administrations had failed to confront some of the country’s fundamental problems.
The APC spokesman also criticised former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s promise to restore petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027.
He challenged Atiku to explain how such a policy would be funded, arguing that Nigerians deserved clarity on the financial implications of returning to subsidy payments.
“I want to watch a show where you will bring His Excellency, former vice president, to ask him exactly, just a simple question: how exactly do you plan to pay for subsidy that you’ve told Nigerians you’ll return assuming you are elected?” Morka said.
He accused Atiku of appealing to public sentiment with the subsidy promise, insisting that the Tinubu administration would continue implementing reforms it considers necessary to reposition the economy.
Morka expressed confidence that Nigerians would eventually appreciate the outcome of the reforms, despite the economic hardship associated with the policies.
Tinubu assumed office in May 2023 after succeeding Buhari, whose eight-year administration ran from 2015 to 2023. Both presidents contested elections under the APC.
