Morka: Buhari Was Stopgap President After ‘16 Years of PDP Maladministration’

The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Felix Morka, has described former President Muhammadu Buhari as a “stopgap president” who, according to him, came into office to prevent Nigeria from “tipping over the precipice” after 16 years of what he called “horrific maladministration” under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Morka said this while defending the economic record of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration during Channels Television’s Programme Politics Today.

According to him, Tinubu inherited an economy that was “completely in a mess” and has since implemented reforms aimed at correcting what he described as longstanding structural problems.

“President Buhari was this stopgap president that really came to keep the country from tipping over the precipice of 16 years of horrific maladministration of the PDP government,” Morka said.

He added that Buhari’s administration had, in his view, stabilised the country sufficiently for Tinubu to take over.

“President Buhari served his term, did his job to hold the country still for President Tinubu to enter,” he said.

Morka argued that the Tinubu administration had made significant progress at the macroeconomic level, claiming that several of the economic challenges inherited by the president had been addressed.

He cited what he described as positive assessments from international financial institutions, rating agencies and some Nigerian critics as evidence of the administration’s economic progress.

The APC spokesperson specifically referenced former Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili, saying he was surprised by her acknowledgement of what he described as Tinubu’s achievements on the macroeconomic front.

Morka maintained that Nigeria’s economic recovery should not be assessed solely by its immediate impact on citizens’ “bread and butter” concerns, arguing that macroeconomic reforms must precede improvements in microeconomic conditions.

“You can’t fix your microeconomics without fixing your macroeconomics,” he said.

He further argued that Nigeria had moved beyond what he described as the worst stage of its macroeconomic challenges and was now focusing on addressing the more immediate economic difficulties confronting citizens.

“Data can make you and data can mar you,” Morka added, stressing that economic performance should be assessed beyond isolated figures and statistics.