Felix Morka, the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Publicity Secretary, has dismissed allegations that ministers serving under President Bola Tinubu paid billions of naira to secure their appointments.
Gatekeepers News reports that Morka said the allegation made by Alwan Hassan, a spokesperson for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, referred to previous administrations and not the current government.
He spoke on Wednesday during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme, following controversy over Hassan’s remarks about alleged financial inducements for ministerial appointments.
Hassan had claimed that some ministers paid billions of naira to secure appointments, with the intention of recovering their investments after assuming office.
Reacting to the comments, Morka said he had contacted Hassan to clarify the context of his statement.
“When it comes to public conversation, people have different ways of expressing themselves. Since that interview, I have had a moment to speak with Alwan, out of curiosity, to understand what he was thinking when he made those comments,” Morka said.
“He explained that he was not really referring to this administration but was speaking in a historical context. In fact, he was simply saying that ministers in our country have generally had a terrible record of engaging in this kind of behaviour.
“When Alwan Hassan said ministers pay billions to be appointed, he was not speaking about the current administration. It was in a historical context.”
Morka maintained that ministerial appointments under Tinubu were based on merit, competence and the ability to deliver, rather than financial inducements.
Background
Hassan had made the controversial allegation during an interview with Charles Aniagolu on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme on Thursday night, while defending Tinubu’s approach to managing government revenue and expenditure.
He claimed that some ministers paid huge sums to secure government positions and subsequently prioritised recovering the money.
“Charles, a lot of ministers pay billions and billions, and you know, to get themselves appointed. The first thing they think of is how to recoup that money,” Hassan said.
“The biggest fraudulent people you arrest after every government are ministers.”
He argued that the alleged practice was not peculiar to the APC, claiming that ministers had been among the most corrupt public officials across successive administrations.
Hassan also criticised previous governments for failing to address corruption among public officials, particularly ministers.
When Aniagolu suggested that the government was deliberately approving budgets without adequately funding them, Hassan praised Tinubu’s direct involvement in decisions concerning public expenditure.
“Whatever it is a budget is supposed to do in this country in the last three and a half years, Asiwaju (President Bola Tinubu) has done it by himself. Why do we need ministers? Why do we need budget to be given to ministers?” he asked.
“The way Asiwaju is hands-on on the expenditure of our revenue is fantastic, and I love it.”
In a subsequent post on X, Aniagolu said Hassan’s allegation raised serious questions about the process of appointing ministers and the possible financial interests behind public appointments.
