A sharp disagreement has emerged between the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the performance of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, with both sides offering contrasting assessments of the state of the nation nearly three years after the president assumed office.
Former SDP presidential candidate Adewole Adebayo argued that ordinary Nigerians have seen little improvement in their living conditions under the current administration, while APC National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka maintained that the government has made significant progress by addressing long-standing economic distortions.
Speaking during Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Adebayo criticised the Tinubu administration, insisting that the majority of Nigerians are worse off than they were before the president took office in May 2023.
According to him, the government has not adequately addressed critical national issues, particularly insecurity and economic hardship, which continue to affect millions of citizens across the country.
“The fact of the matter is that no one’s life is better off except those who are in government.
”Even you asking the question knows that your life is no better off in terms of all the economic indicators.
”I know that my life is not better off, and those of my neighbours are not better off,” Adebayo said.
The SDP chieftain, however, urged Nigerians to view the national conversation beyond partisan divisions.
“But I want us to understand something clearly, which is going to give us context so that Mr Morka, or anyone who’s participating in this conversation, will not have a they-versus-us mentality.
”Let us agree on three fundamental principles,” he added.
Responding to the criticism, APC spokesman Felix Morka argued that Nigerians have greater reasons to be optimistic about the country’s future, insisting that the current administration inherited a deeply troubled economy and has since taken bold measures to stabilise it.
“I think that Nigerians have every reason to feel more confident about their country and, therefore, more hopeful about the future, because the state of affairs in this country as of 2023 compared to today is actually like comparing night and day,” Morka stated.
He said many of the economic indicators inherited by the Tinubu administration painted a misleading picture of stability, describing the situation as unsustainable and distorted.
“From the exchange rates to just basic living, it was all phantom. A lot of it was phantom, and I say ‘phantom’ because it was not real because the distortions in the economy were overwhelming in every facet,” he said.
According to Morka, comparing present-day realities with conditions in 2023 is difficult because much of what existed then was artificially sustained.
“So it’s difficult to make that comparison between 2023 and 2025 because a lot of what you had then was unreal, and that’s the distortion that this government keeps talking about,” he explained.
The APC spokesman credited the administration with tackling structural challenges that had weakened the economy for years.
“What this president has done since 2023 is to really tackle the root causes of all of those distortions, whether it was the fuel subsidy or whether it was the crazy arbitrage in the foreign exchange system. None of that was real,” Morka said.
He further argued that the reforms have created a more realistic economic environment capable of attracting investment and delivering long-term benefits.
“And so what Nigerians are dealing with today is closer to reality. And when you plan with reality, then you are more likely to actually have outcomes and results that are more realistic, more defensible, and more promising in terms of the future,” he added.
Morka also pointed to improvements in the nation’s foreign reserves and growing investor confidence as evidence that the government’s economic policies are beginning to yield positive results.
“And today, like you said, we’ve gone from $3 billion in our foreign reserves to nearly $50 billion.
”That counts for something because the world is taking us more seriously today, which is why you see a lot of investment, new investment coming in, in all the sectors, whether it’s oil and gas or other sectors. People are coming in to invest because they have more confidence,” he said.
In his response, Adebayo rejected attempts to separate current challenges from the APC’s years in power, arguing that the ruling party must accept responsibility for the conditions it inherited and currently manages.
The former presidential candidate noted that the APC has controlled the Federal Government since 2015 and therefore cannot distance itself from the economic and social difficulties facing the country.
“One, that four years ago or three years ago, 2023 that we’re talking about, all the grim pictures and the bleak statistics that Mr Morka referred to were grim pictures and horror movies, they were written after eight years of APC in government,” Adebayo stated.
He maintained that the challenges cited by government officials today were largely created during previous APC administrations and should not be presented as problems caused by others.
The exchange highlighted the growing debate over the impact of President Tinubu’s reforms, with supporters pointing to economic restructuring and improved investor confidence, while critics argue that the policies have yet to translate into meaningful improvements in the daily lives of ordinary Nigerians.
As political discussions ahead of future elections begin to intensify, the contrasting views offered by both parties underscore the broader national debate over the direction of governance, economic recovery, and the living conditions of citizens under the current administration.
