The All Progressives Congress (APC) has blamed Nigeria’s misfortune, rising poverty, corruption and economic stagnation of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Anambra Governor, Peter Obi, and other members of the newly formed coalition. 

Felix Morka, spokesperson for the ruling party, made this claim in an interview with Arise TV on Sunday, adding that members of the coalition “brought Nigeria on its knees.”

“All of the faces you see parade themselves as members of coalition, look very closely at them. Keep it on your minds my fellow compatriots, and many are the architects of Nigeria’s misfortune that has not become totally generational,” Mr Morka said.

The APC spokesperson added, “They are the architects of Nigeria’s economics stagnation. They are the architects of Nigeria’s incredible dimensions of corruption and underdevelopment and extreme poverty.”

Though President Bola Tinubu had a short stint at the Senate in the 90s before the military regime truncated Nigeria’s democracy, Mr Morka said the president is emerging in national politics for the first time to solve the problem members of the coalition who have dominated the political space at the national level for years.

“These are the men who constructed what this president is trying to solve. Let me say this, this president has only been the president of Lagos State. He has operated only in the south west and has never been on national stage. He never held any political position at the national stage. This is his first time of his emergence on national stage. Yet the people who have saturated the national stage dare to say he is president is the reason Nigeria is on its knees,” Mr Morka said.

The APC spokesperson statement followed the adoption of African Democratic Congress as official party for 2027 election by coalescing opposition politicians, including former Senate President David Mark, former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, former Kaduna Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, former Osun Governor, Raud Aregbesola and others.

Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesperson for the ADC, could not be reached for response to Mr Morka’s claim. A WhatsApp message sent to him seeking comment was read but not replied at the time of filing this report.

Contrary to Mr Morka’s claim, the International Monetary Fund reported that poverty and insecurity have risen under Mr Tinubu’s watch, though lauding its economic policies.

The World Bank’s Africa Pulse report of April 2025 also stated that Nigeria, under Mr Tinubu, has the highest number of extremely poor people globally, warning that more Nigerians will be plunged into poverty by 2027.

With inflation at 23.7 per cent, a drop from 34 per cent after rebasing the economy, under Mr Tinubu, Nigeria recorded the largest increase in acute food insecurity globally in 2024, according to the 2025 Global Report on Food Crises published by the Global Network Against Food Crises in collaboration with the Food Security Information Network and UNICEF.