ABUJA – Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barr. Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday declared that President Bola Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidy rescued states from financial collapse, insisting that the President displayed the political courage that previous leaders lacked.
Speaking during his monthly media briefing in Abuja, Wike said Tinubu remains the only leader bold enough to confront Nigeria’s deep-rooted economic problems, despite the temporary hardship caused by the reforms.
According to him, the subsidy removal has boosted federal allocations to states, improved infrastructure funding and ended the era when governors depended on bank loans to pay workers’ salaries.
“Asiwaju is the only person we have now. He has not done everything, and nobody says he has, but he has shown the courage to take decisions others refused to take. Give him credit for that,” Wike said.
The minister urged Nigerians to be patient with the administration, arguing that an economy weakened over many years could not be rebuilt overnight.
“When problems have accumulated for over 15 years, people expect them to be solved in one year. It doesn’t work that way. Healing takes time, but it will happen,” he stated.
Describing the fuel subsidy as “a cancer” that crippled the nation’s finances, Wike recalled that during his tenure as governor, many states were forced to borrow from banks just to meet salary obligations.
“The fuel subsidy consumed over ₦3 trillion at a time. States were borrowing to survive. I was a governor, and there were times we had to approach bank managers for loans just to pay salaries. Today, states receive more money, pensioners are being paid, governors no longer queue before banks to borrow for salaries, and there are more resources for infrastructure,” he said.
He maintained that true leadership is about making difficult decisions rather than seeking popularity.
“Everybody agreed that subsidy was a scam, but no president had the political will to remove it. President Tinubu took that decision. No decision is 100 per cent perfect, but leadership is about taking responsibility and making hard choices,” Wike added.
The minister expressed confidence that the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms would yield lasting benefits, urging Nigerians to judge the government by its willingness to tackle long-standing problems rather than by short-term discomfort.
