‘Give Him Credit For That’ – Wike Urges Nigerians To Laud Tinubu’s Courageous Decisions Others Feared

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has urged Nigerians to commend President Bola Tinubu for his courage in confronting the country’s long-standing economic challenges that other presidents feared to confront.

Naijaonpoint reports that Wike, speaking at his monthly media briefing on Tuesday in Abuja, defended Tinubu’s economic reforms, particularly the removal of petrol subsidy.

While admitting that Tinubu has not done everything, Wike insisted that he has shown the courage to take decisions others refused to take.

According to the Minister, the reforms have imposed temporary hardship on Nigerians, strengthened the finances of state governments, improved infrastructure funding, and ended the era when states depended on bank loans to pay workers’ salaries.

The minister argued that Nigerians should not expect an economy weakened over many years to recover within a short period.

He said, “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.

“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.” 

Wike also described the subsidy regime as a scam, stressing that governors no longer depend on borrowing from banks to meet salary obligations.

He added, “The fuel subsidy consumed over ₦3 trillion at a time. Today, states receive more money. Pensioners are being paid, governors no longer queue before bank managers to borrow money just to pay salaries, and there are more resources for infrastructure.

“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.”