Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike, has said that before the removal of the petrol subsidy, governors were compelled to seek loans from banks to execute projects in their states.
Wike disclosed this on Tuesday during his routine monthly live media chat with selected journalists in Abuja. He defended President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, particularly the removal of the petrol subsidy, describing the decision as one of the boldest taken by any Nigerian president in decades.
He insisted that no other potential presidential contender had demonstrated the courage or capacity to confront the country’s long-standing economic challenges.
According to him, although the reforms had imposed temporary hardship on Nigerians, they had strengthened the finances of state governments, improved funding for infrastructure and ended the era when states 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.
“Take, for example, the fuel subsidy. States were borrowing. I was a governor. I was kneeling before bank managers, even ordinary branch managers. Sometimes, they would see me and take the back door and leave. A governor would be left waiting. Why? The fuel subsidy was a cankerworm. It was over ₦3 trillion at a go,” he said.
The minister argued that Nigerians should not expect an economy weakened over many years to recover within a short period.
“When problems have accumulated for over 15 years, people expect them to be solved in one year. It does not work that way. Healing takes time, but it will happen,” he said.
Wike added that President Tinubu was the only presidential candidate capable of winning Rivers State in the 2027 general election, urging political observers to “cancel Rivers” from their electoral calculations if they were not counting votes for the President.
He disclosed that a broad political coalition comprising members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Labour Party (LP), the Action Alliance (AA) and other political groups had resolved to work together in the interest of Rivers State while supporting Tinubu’s re-election.
“If anybody is counting Rivers, go now and cancel it. The only person that can count Rivers is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I’m not talking because I want to talk; I’m talking as a political realist because I know my people.
“Today, we have the PDP, APC, Labour Party and AA all together. We have candidates across different political parties for the House of Assembly and National Assembly. We will support the candidate who is most acceptable. Whoever emerges should not be seen as APC or PDP; the person should be seen as the coalition’s candidate,” he said.
According to Wike, the alliance was gaining widespread acceptance across the state.
“All we are doing is for one purpose: to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It is all-inclusive, and it is spreading like wildfire.
“For me, what matters is Rivers State. If Rivers State is relevant because projects are coming and people are benefiting from government, then I am satisfied. It is not about personal ambition; it is about the interest of the state,” he stated.