- October 29, 2026
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has denied allegations that ministers serving under President Bola Tinubu paid billions of naira to secure their appointments, insisting that the controversial remarks by a party chieftain referred to previous administrations.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, gave the clarification during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Wednesday, accusing opposition figures of misrepresenting the comments to discredit the Tinubu administration.
The controversy followed remarks by Alwan Hassan, a spokesperson for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, who alleged that some ministers pay substantial sums to secure government appointments and subsequently seek to recover the money after assuming office.
Speaking during an interview on Arise News on Thursday, October 22, Hassan had praised Tinubu’s management of government revenue and expenditure before making the allegation.
“The way Asiwaju is hands-on on the expenditure of our revenue is fantastic and I love it. 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,” he said.
Hassan argued that the alleged practice was not limited to the ruling party, suggesting that it had persisted across successive administrations.
“But this is the truth I’m telling you about our country. Not just APC. Before APC, the biggest fraudulent people you arrest after every government are ministers,” he added.
However, Hassan did not name any minister who allegedly paid for an appointment or provide specific evidence of the purported transactions.
His remarks generated controversy, with questions raised about whether financial inducements influenced ministerial appointments and who might have received the alleged payments.
Responding to the controversy, Morka said Hassan’s comments had been taken out of context and should not be interpreted as an allegation against ministers serving under Tinubu.
“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 said.
“His frame of thought was not talking about the present but the past. As a public commentator, you sometimes generalise without drawing lines,” he added.
The APC spokesman maintained that the President’s ministerial appointments were based on merit, competence and the ability to deliver on assigned responsibilities, rather than financial inducements.
He urged Nigerians to disregard claims suggesting that members of Tinubu’s cabinet paid money to secure their positions.
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