The spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Felix Morka, has defended President Bola Tinubu against criticism over the rising concerns about poverty and hunger in Nigeria, arguing that successive governments have been unable to eliminate poverty.
Morka spoke during a RIGHT OF REPLY programme on ARISE TV on Tuesday while responding to questions about whether Tinubu was avoiding responsibility for the country’s economic difficulties by describing poverty as a longstanding challenge.
“Poverty is something that is, you know, a feature of many societies around the globe. Poverty has been with us for a very long time,” he said.
The APC spokesman referenced the eight years former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar served together, arguing that they also failed to eradicate poverty during their time in government.
“Now, in the historical context, Atiku Abubakar was vice president of the Federal Republic for eight years with the former president Olusegun Obasanjo. Now, between the two of them, they had eight years to eradicate poverty, assuming that poverty was that easy to snap your finger and eradicate. Now, let me quickly say that, you know, they didn’t eradicate poverty,” Morka said.
He maintained that previous administrations had equally failed to address the problem, stressing that poverty could not be eliminated through political promises alone.
“All of the other presidents who have come before them did not eradicate poverty, even if we were to suggest that they had a constitutional obligation to eradicate poverty, they didn’t. They couldn’t eradicate poverty,” he said.
Morka insisted that Tinubu was right to acknowledge the historical nature of poverty in Nigeria, dismissing claims that the president was shifting blame to past governments to escape accountability.
“So when this president says poverty has been, and, you know, these individuals in their own term of office could have, you know, completely extinguished poverty, take it out. They didn’t. You know, he was saying something that was completely true and not controversial,” he said.
He further criticised opposition figures, particularly Atiku, for faulting the president’s decision to refer to previous administrations when discussing poverty.
“So it is only people who simply want to, you know, evade responsibility, like Atiku Abubakar, who will in fact say, you know, why are you referring to the past? Talk about the present,” Morka said.
Reinforcing his argument, the APC spokesman declared: “Listen, there’s no present without the past. The present is only the present because there’s a past, which this president was referring to. So that is not, you know, evading responsibility.”
Morka also accused past administrations of selling Nigeria’s assets while leaving millions of citizens trapped in poverty. However, he did not provide specific details to support the allegation in the interview excerpt.
He further argued that Tinubu had never committed to eradicating poverty within a particular timeframe.
“The president never told you that in the first month or 100 days of my government, or in the first two years or three years, I’m gonna eradicate poverty,” Morka added.
The APC spokesman also pointed to the constitutional provision that allows elected presidents to seek re-election, arguing that two terms could provide sufficient time to develop and implement policies.
“There’s a reason the constitution gave every elected president the possibility of a re-election. Four years in the first instance, and a possibility, if the citizens, the electorate decide to re-elect that president, to serve another four years. There’s a reason for that,” he said.
According to Morka, a president’s first term offers an opportunity to assess the country’s challenges, establish priorities and begin implementing policies, while a second term provides room to continue the process if voters renew the administration’s mandate.
“It’s because four years, first of all, it’s a period to profile, understand, create your pathfinders to what you’re doing. And then to do that in the second, I mean, people agree with you that you have started,” he said.