The All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has performed better than every democratically elected Nigerian president during their respective terms in office.
APC National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka made the claim during an interview with Channels Television while defending the Tinubu administration’s economic policies and overall performance.
According to Morka, Tinubu has surpassed the achievements of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari.
“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.
When asked to identify the indicators supporting the claim, the APC spokesman pointed to Nigeria’s economic performance.
Morka argued that Tinubu inherited an economy in serious difficulty and that the administration’s reforms had begun to improve the country’s macroeconomic outlook.
“The indicators are res ipsa loquitur, as we say in law; they speak for themselves,” he said, describing the economy inherited by Tinubu as being “completely in a mess.”
APC Blames PDP for Economic Challenges
Morka attributed much of Nigeria’s economic difficulties to what he described as the failures of the 16 years of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rule at the federal level.
He also defended the record of former President Muhammadu Buhari, despite acknowledging the challenges faced by his administration.
According to Morka, Buhari’s government prevented the country from sliding further into crisis before handing over to Tinubu in 2023.
“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.
“President Buhari served his term, did his job to hold the country still for President Tinubu to enter.”
Tinubu’s Reforms Under Spotlight
Since taking office in May 2023, President Tinubu has introduced major economic reforms, most notably the removal of the petrol subsidy and changes to the foreign exchange system.
The reforms have generated significant debate, with supporters arguing that they are necessary to address long-standing structural problems, while critics have raised concerns about their impact on household incomes and the cost of living.
Morka, however, maintained that the reforms are producing positive results and that Nigeria has made progress at the macroeconomic level.
“We have come out of the woods at the macroeconomic level,” he said.
His comments come amid continued political debate over the performance of the Tinubu administration, particularly its handling of inflation, the naira, fuel prices, economic growth and the broader cost-of-living crisis.
While the APC maintains that Tinubu’s record surpasses that of previous democratic administrations, the claim is likely to remain a subject of debate as Nigerians assess whether the government’s economic gains have translated into improved living conditions for ordinary citizens.
