Tinubu outperformed past presidents in first term — APC’s scribe

The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Felix Morka, has said that President Bola Tinubu outperformed all of Nigeria’s democratically elected presidents in their first terms in office.

He noted that when Tinubu came into office, the nation’s economy was in a “mess”.

He, however, added that with the APC-led government’s policies, Nigeria’s economy has experienced a turnaround.

Morka stated this on Monday during an interview on Channels Television while defending the administration’s performance, saying the records “speak for themselves”.

The APC National Secretary said: “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.

“The indicators are _res ipsa loquitur_, as we say in law; they speak for themselves. This president inherited an economy that was in a complete mess.”

Since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, the country has been under civilian democratic rule for 27 years (1999–2026), across five presidents.

Former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo (1999–2007), Umar Yar’Adua (2007–2010) and Goodluck Jonathan (2010–2015) were elected on the platform of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and stayed in office for a combined 16 years.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari spent two terms in office from 2015 to 2023, while Tinubu, who was elected to office in 2023, has spent three years so far and is nearing the end of his term. Both were elected to office on the platform of the APC, spending a combined 11 years so far.

In his interview, however, Morka described Tinubu’s predecessor, Buhari, as a “stopgap president”, saying he (Buhari) “really came to keep the country from tipping over the precipice, from 16 years of horrific maladministration by the PDP government”.

“President Buhari served his term and did his job to hold the country steady for President Tinubu to take over.”

Morka added that Tinubu’s performance has reached a level where his critics are now commending his administration, and that under his policies, Nigeria had “come out of the woods” on a macroeconomic level.