Felix Morka is the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview, he speaks on why the coalition on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) poses no challenge to President Bola Tinubu and why South South-APC stakeholders endorsed the President for a second term, among other issues, ANAYO EZUGWU writes
What do you make of the coalition, who whose leaders say they are committed to removing APC from power?
The All Progressives Congress (APC) is not jittery and has no reason to be jittery at all. We’re not jittery because President Tinubu, who is the leader of our party, is doing exactly what Nigerians elected him to do. He is standing tall and standing strong for Nigeria. He’s voting with all fingers of his hands for the progress and prosperity of Nigerians.
This President, unlike any other president that has come through generations of presidents in our country, decided upon his swearing-in that some of the most acerbic challenges confronting our country must be confronted with seriousness and with total devotion. He summoned the political will, which no other president has done before him, to confront those challenges.
And today, two years on, we have a whole lot to say about the outcomes, at least preliminary outcomes of this bold and determined effort of the President. So, it is really pitiful because even though the choice of the platform ADC was made just a few days ago, you will recall that this judgement by these characters who have now constituted themselves to the ADC began very early in the life of this administration to vilify this government and paint a picture that it has not met the expectations of Nigerians. Even in the first few days of this administration, individually, they all came to that conclusion. So, this is a predetermined judgement. It is not a judgement that follows an examination where you have an assessment over a constitutional term of four years to say whether or not the President has succeeded.
What makes you to think that leaders of the opposition were quick to pass judgement on the Tinubu administration?
Even now, we’re just barely over the two-year mark for this government but some of these individuals have already decided for themselves, by themselves, and in their own interests that the President has not met the expectations of Nigerians. That is dubious and bogus in the extreme. Now let me just say this: All the faces you see, who paraded themselves as members of the ADC coalition, look very closely at them, you will discover the marks on their faces; These are many of the architects of Nigeria’s misfortune that has now become totally generational. They are the architects of Nigeria’s economic stagnation. They are the architects of Nigeria’s incredible dimensions of corruption and underdevelopment and extreme poverty.
These are the men, especially, I don’t want to bring women into it so far, but these are the men, who constructed what President Tinubu is trying to solve. The President has only been the governor of Lagos State. He’s been operating in the South-West. He’s never been on the national stage, never, to my knowledge had any political position on the national stage.
This is his first time of emerging on the national stage as president, yet the people who have occupied and saturated the political stage nationally are suggesting that he is the reason Nigeria is on its knees. They brought Nigeria to its knees, but Nigeria, by virtue of the commitment of President Tinubu, has decided that no longer will Nigeria crumble. Nigeria has arisen. Our economy has arisen.
The hope for Nigeria for the future has arisen. This is a historical moment, and I think that anyone who loves Nigeria must pay attention and support the President. He has jettisoned the need to be popular with Nigerians because he’s putting Nigeria first because we are Nigerians. He has put our collective best interest first, and I think that that’s really where we are, and which is why we are not concerned about any kind of coalition, whether under the ADC or under ADA or any other nomenclature that they choose. We’re simply focused on government, and I think by the fullness of this term, Nigerians will be self-evident that President Tinubu loves this country and means well for this country.
You said APC is not jittery but when the President and leaders of the party speak, they talk about the coalition, and the general impression is that President Tinubu and the APC are working towards a one-party state and an authoritarian system, where the opposition cannot be tolerated. How do you defend that?
All of that you have said about those who have decided by themselves that this country is headed in the direction of a one-party state is simply the epitome of mischief. They simply want to be mischievous. They don’t really believe that. They say that because they want to justify the position that they have taken. They’ve taken that position because they are members of the opposition in a coalition.
The suggestion that APC or the President is railroading Nigeria towards a one-party state is completely and utterly disingenuous
They’re trying to, I think, sweet-talk and talk their way to justifying what is otherwise the nuisance of this whole energy that they’re trying to put in the coalition. Nigeria, under this dispensation, has never been anywhere near the junction to a oneparty state, let alone embark on the journey to a one-party state. Recently, we, the party in the South-South of Nigeria, were Edo State in Benin at a summit to have a conversation about our party.
And we celebrated the fact that out of six states, we now have four governors who are members of our party. We’re very excited about that. Now, if you listen closely to members of the ADC, I’ve listened to some of their leaders, who have said that they have Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors who are on their way to the ADC. And they’re celebrating those who have come from other parties, who they say, even without proof, have joined or are intending to join their party. Why are they now celebrating that the dysfunctional PDP has governors who are willing to join them but it’s not okay for APC to say we welcome Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State, that we welcome Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of my state, Delta?
Why is it not okay for APC to celebrate those who have decided voluntarily to join us, while they are now telegraphing and telling Nigerians that there are some governors who are yet to join, but they are already celebrating the prospects, according to them, of some governors joining them? You see, that is double-speak. That is utter nonsense.
We cannot, in a democracy, make that the essence of our conversation. Democracy is about freedom; freedom for everyone to think, to aspire, to belong, to associate. That is constitutionally guaranteed by the constitution of Nigeria. What I’m saying is that we are happy to welcome anyone because we don’t have gatekeepers who want to discriminate between those who come in and those who don’t come in.
We don’t have those who now, say, no, you cannot come in. Every Nigerian who aspires to join us, we welcome. We have a red carpet laid out to welcome those who join us; governors or ordinary citizens of this country. So, the suggestion that APC or the President is railroading Nigeria towards a one-party state is completely and utterly disingenuous.
And we must dismiss it with a wave of the hand. Nigeria is solid. Nigeria is a democracy, and even if anyone, anyone in their wildest imagination had thought to put Nigeria on that track of a one-party system, I’m a lawyer of about 36 years standing, I can tell you that there are enormous legal complications, constitutional obstacles that you must overcome, which are not easy to overcome to get Nigeria into that system. Our constitution recognises that this is a multiparty democracy, where every individual, every organisation or party that is registered has the opportunity to aspire. We are not constitutionally enabled to be a one-party state. So that is actually mischievous and should not be taken seriously by any Nigerian.
At the South-South APC meeting, we were told that some governors have been promised re-election by the APC. How did you people arrive at that decision?
When we go to meetings like we did at the South-South summit and come out with a communique, where the stakeholders who are in attendance decide to pass a vote of confidence, it is the other way to explain endorsement. It is actually a vote of confidence by the delegates of all of the constituent states of the SouthSouth to say that they are, in fact, endorsing Mr. President and giving a vote of confidence, which is really, in essence, a determination by the zone that this president has done an amazing job in two years.
He has surpassed the record of any and every other president who has come forward before him by the two-year mark. He has demonstrated political will to set Nigeria on a path of recovery and a path of solid, incontrovertible prosperity. When they say that they endorse the President, they simply mean that they are declaring by their constitutional and human liberty that this president is doing well and that they will stand with him in the next election season. Even though the President has not told us he is contesting, we are saying by our endorsement that we need him to run, so he can finish the job he has started. That is without prejudice to the authority and the democratic authority of the electorate to make their decision.
But as a party, we are well within our liberty to say to our people, this is what we think, what we believe, what we’re convinced about, that this president has done well and should be enabled to enjoy the fullness of his time to serve Nigeria. I do not think that that’s really a usurpation of the electoral sovereignty of our people.
We respect that but we are simply saying to them, as a party, this is what we’re thinking. And we will go out between now and 2027 to persuade them, to urge them to support this president, because we are confident that our people will believe and will in 2027, cast their votes to re-elect this president to complete the marvellous job he started. Irrespective of what the Ralph Nwosu of this world, what Atiku Abubakar of this world, what the Peter Obi of this world, what the Rotimi Amaechi of this world, and what the David Mark of this world think, that is our position and we’re very confident with that.
