Poverty normal globally, not created by Tinubu, says APC spokesperson, Morka

By Emmanuel Okogba Spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Felix Morka, has defended President Bola Tinubu against criticism over poverty and hunger in Nigeria, arguing that successive administrations have failed to eradicate poverty. Morka made the remarks during a RIGHT OF REPLY on ARISE TV, Tuesday, while responding to questions about whether Tinubu was evading responsibility for the country’s economic challenges by describing poverty as a longstanding problem.

“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 cited the eight years former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar spent in office together, arguing that they had also failed to eliminate poverty. “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 argued that other administrations had similarly failed to eliminate poverty, adding that the challenge could not be resolved simply by political declarations.

“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 maintained that Tinubu was therefore correct to refer to the historical context of poverty in Nigeria, rejecting suggestions that the president was using previous administrations to avoid 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 added that opposition figures, including Atiku, were wrong to criticise the president for referring to the past.

“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. Defending Tinubu’s position, he added: “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 previous administrations of selling off Nigeria’s assets and leaving millions of citizens in poverty, although he did not provide specific details to substantiate the allegation in the interview excerpt. He argued that Tinubu had not promised to eradicate poverty within a specified period.

“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. He argued that the constitutional provision allowing a president to seek re-election gave administrations an opportunity to develop and implement policies over two terms. “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 provides time to understand the country’s challenges, establish priorities and begin implementing policies before seeking another 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.