Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday said he will back the President’s re-election bid, arguing that Nigeria needs political will and hard reforms rather than “rhetoric” as the nation struggles to recover from years of economic decline.
Speaking at his monthly media briefing in Abuja, the Minister defended Tinubu’s decision last year to remove a long-standing fuel subsidy, calling it one of the most courageous economic reforms in recent memory.
Minister Wike said the policy, while causing short-term hardship, has freed up funds for federal and state governments and eased fiscal pressures that once left states unable to meet payrolls.
“He inherited an economy that had deteriorated over many years,” Wike said.
“You cannot judge it as though decades of structural problems can be solved in a few years.”
Wike, a former governor who is widely seen as a heavyweight within the ruling party, described his endorsement in practical terms: voters should reward leaders willing to make difficult decisions rather than those who cater to public sentiment.
“For me, why I don’t like rhetorics is that when something starts getting bad, it gets a solution that is worse,” he said.
The Minister also described the subsidy regime as a “cankerworm” that diverted more than N3 trillion and left subnational governments financially crippled.
“Nobody now owes pensioners. Nobody goes to the bank again to borrow money to pay salaries,” he said, adding that more resources are now available for infrastructure.
Minister Wike acknowledged the political costs of reform.
“It’s hurting,” he said of the economic adjustments, but argued that reversing years of decline will take time.
“To put an economy together within a short term when the economy has been bastardised takes time.”
He also used the platform to attack leading opposition figures.
Minister Wike criticised Labour Party candidate Peter Obi for what he called political posturing, and invoked comments by former President Olusegun Obasanjo about Atiku Abubakar when questioning the former vice president’s suitability for national office.
The FCT Minister further condemned television panels that, he said, invite commentators with little electoral credibility to analyse national politics.
“This is a man who ran as a presidential aspirant from Edo and scored zero,” he said of one recurring pundit, questioning the practice of elevating such voices.
Minister Wike offered an unequivocal political line: “Asiwaju is the only person we have now,” signalling a firm alignment with Tinubu ahead of what is expected to be a closely watched electoral cycle.
