The All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken aim at former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, and ex-Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai, accusing them of pursuing a return to power for self-interest rather than the national good.
The ruling party said the three are united by a “desperate desire” for political relevance and access to state resources.
The criticism followed comments made by the trio during Amaechi’s 60th birthday lecture held in Abuja on May 31, where they voiced concerns about the economic direction under President Bola Tinubu. Amaechi, speaking candidly, remarked, “We’re all hungry; all of us are. If you’re not hungry, I am. For us, the opposition, if you want us to remove the man in power, we can remove him from this power.”
In a statement on Monday, June 2, APC National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka dismissed their remarks as political posturing and accused the former officials of clinging to fading influence. “These three individuals have occupied Nigeria’s highest political offices between 1999 and 2023,” he said. “In all 24 years, the trio, individually or collectively, could not and did not eradicate poverty in their states or the country.”
Morka argued that the party rejects the suggestion that the Tinubu-led government is “weaponising poverty,” pointing instead to long-standing structural problems ignored during the administrations led by the opposition.
He described the birthday lecture as a “frenzied” reunion of “displaced rent-seekers who misused their time in office and are now disoriented by Tinubu’s reforms.” He alleged that the three were involved in “mindless rent-seeking, selling national assets to cronies, wasteful spending, and sponsoring state violence.”
Taking direct aim at Amaechi’s hunger comment, Morka said, “That’s about a quarter of a century of freeloading by Amaechi on state resources, with absolutely no record of attempting to combat poverty in his Rivers state or the country.” He added, “When Amaechi declared, ‘I am hungry,’ he must mean, and must be understood to mean, that he is hungry and desperate to return to his felt entitled dependency on state resources and patronage.”
Morka said Nigerians are aware of what he described as “disruptive politicking” and are witnessing the outcomes of reforms designed to shift the economy away from dependency and toward innovation and productivity.
He blamed previous governments, particularly the 16 years of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for maintaining an artificially high naira value that suppressed local production and deepened poverty. “Atiku and Peter Obi, who are now vociferously criticising President Tinubu’s policies, amassed their wealth from the very import-dependent system they are desperately trying to preserve,” he stated.
He added that Atiku, a former customs officer, and Obi, a successful importer, “reaped enormous benefits from the old system,” accusing them of masking special interests as public concern.
According to Morka, Tinubu’s decision to allow market forces to determine the naira’s value is already drawing investment and driving economic growth. “In two years, President Tinubu has demonstrated political will to tackle structural barriers to the country’s economic growth and development far more than any other president in Nigeria’s modern history,” he said.
Morka maintained that fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification have curbed corruption, boosted revenue, and created fiscal space for greater investment in infrastructure and social services. He noted that some states are now paying a minimum wage of ₦70,000, compared to the previous ₦30,000.
He also claimed that Nigeria recorded a 4.6 percent GDP growth in the last quarter of 2024, the highest in a decade, despite global economic headwinds. “The president’s reforms are dawning a new day for Nigeria, now witnessing economic transformation never before seen in our country’s history,” he said.
Morka concluded by reaffirming the administration’s focus on long-term economic goals, even as citizens face short-term hardship. “Mr President is on course and will not be distracted by the selfish partisan rambling of some hardened political opportunists and economic exploiters,” he said. “The best strategic interest of our economy and the good people of Nigeria must continue to trump any and all political or electoral calculations.”
