The spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Felix Morka, has defended President Bola Tinubu against criticism over rising poverty and hunger in Nigeria, arguing that the challenges predate the current administration and have persisted under successive governments.

Morka stated this on Tuesday during an appearance on ARISE Television’s Right of Reply, where he rejected allegations that Tinubu was evading responsibility by describing poverty as a longstanding problem.

According to him, poverty is a global challenge that cannot be eliminated through political declarations or within a short period.

“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-year administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, during which Atiku Abubakar served as vice-president, arguing that the government also failed to eradicate poverty.

“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,” Morka said.

He added that other administrations before Tinubu had equally failed to eliminate poverty, insisting that the president was right to acknowledge the historical dimensions of the problem.

“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 accused opposition figures, particularly Atiku, of attempting to evade responsibility by faulting Tinubu for referring to previous administrations when discussing the country's economic difficulties.

He maintained that the present economic situation could not be divorced from the country's past, arguing that Tinubu's reference to previous governments did not amount to an attempt to avoid accountability.

“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,” he said.

The APC spokesman also accused previous administrations of selling off national assets while leaving millions of Nigerians in poverty.

Defending Tinubu's record, Morka argued that the president had never promised to eradicate poverty within a specific timeframe, whether during his first 100 days in office or within the first two or three years of his administration.

“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,” he said.

He further argued that the constitutional provision allowing an elected president to seek re-election provides an opportunity for governments to develop and implement policies over two terms.

According to him, the first term enables a president to understand the country's challenges, establish priorities and begin implementing policies, while a second term offers an opportunity to consolidate the administration's agenda if voters renew its mandate.