{
  "id": 17029040,
  "title": "Ministers-pay-billions claim was about past governments — APC",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/ministers-pay-billions-claim-was-about-past-governments-apc",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-29T07:58:51.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Punch Nigeria",
    "slug": "punch-nigeria",
    "url": "https://punchng.com/ministers-pay-billions-claim-was-about-past-governments-apc/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The All Progressives Congress (APC) has refuted claims that ministers serving under President Bola Tinubu paid substantial sums of money to secure their appointments. The party's National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, clarified this during an interview on Arise Television's Prime Time. Morka insisted that a recent statement by APC chieftain Alwan Hassan, which alleged that some ministers pay large amounts to obtain government positions and seek to recover the money later, referred to previous administrations and not the current one. Hassan, a spokesperson for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, had made these allegations, but without providing any specific evidence or naming any ministers involved. Morka defended Tinubu's management of government revenue and expenditure, emphasizing that appointments in his administration are based on merit, competence, and the ability to deliver results, rather than financial inducements. He urged Nigerians to disregard such claims and pointed out that Alwan Hassan's statement was taken out of context and wrongly interpreted as an attack on the Tinubu administration.",
  "summary": "The APC has clarified that a chieftain’s claim about ministers paying billions for appointments referred to past governments, not the Tinubu administration Read More: https://punchng.com/ministers-pay-billions-claim-was-about-past-governments-apc/",
  "key_points": [
    "APC denies ministers paid billions for appointments",
    "Alwan Hassan's claim refers to past governments",
    "Tinubu's administration based on merit and results"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The party's clarification attempts to distance the current administration from allegations of corruption by framing claims of paid appointments as historical grievances rather than contemporary systemic issues.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}