Tinubu outperformed every Nigerian democratically elected president, says APC

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has outperformed all democratically elected presidents in Nigeria during their first terms in office.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka, made the claim during an interview with Channels Television on Monday, while defending the performance of the Tinubu administration.

Mr Morka also said Tinubu inherited an economy that was “completely in a mess” from the administration of former President 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,” he said.

According to him, economic indicators under the Tinubu administration provided evidence of the government’s performance.

“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,” Mr Morka said.

The APC spokesman blamed successive administrations for the economic challenges inherited by Tinubu, while describing Buhari’s government as a “stopgap” administration.

“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.”

Mr Morka further claimed that the Tinubu administration had transformed the economy to the extent that some of its critics were now acknowledging its achievements.

He said Nigeria had “come out of the woods” at the macroeconomic level as a result of the policies implemented by the Tinubu administration.

The APC spokesperson’s remarks come amid continued debate over the impact of the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidy, foreign exchange reforms and other measures introduced since May 2023.

While the government has maintained that the reforms are laying the foundation for long-term economic growth, opposition parties and other critics have continued to fault the administration over the cost of living and the impact of the reforms on households and businesses.