ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barr Nyesom Wike, has criticised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his reported position on fuel subsidy, describing him as an inconsistent politician who was now attempting to reverse a policy he previously condemned.

Wike spoke on Thursday, in Abuja during an inspection of ongoing infrastructure projects in the FCT, where he also defended the Federal Government’s decision to remove fuel subsidy and questioned the former vice president’s consistency on the issue.

The FCT minister recalled that Atiku had said in 2022 that he would remove fuel subsidy within his first 100 days in office if elected, but was now promising to restore the subsidy.

“Now, in 2026, he is not going to remove the fuel subsidy. Is he going back to the fraud, which he had alleged that fuel subsidy was?” Wike asked.

He described Atiku as a “voodoo economist”, accusing him of saying whatever he believed would appeal to voters.

“Atiku, who is confused, who acts like a voodoo economist, Atiku will say anything just to be president,” Wike said.

According to him, political leaders seeking the presidency must demonstrate consistency in their policies and positions, rather than changing their views to suit prevailing political circumstances.

“Leadership is not you coming out, you say one thing now in the morning, in the afternoon you say a different thing, in the night you are talking of a different thing. That is not it,” he said.

Wike argued that the current structure of Nigeria’s petroleum industry also raised questions about how a future administration would implement a fuel subsidy regime, particularly with the commercialisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the emergence of the Dangote Refinery.

“He (Atiku) is living in the past. If not, he will know that with the Petroleum Industry Act, NNPC is now fully commercialised. It has transformed the old NNPC into a limited liability company (NNPC Limited), and no longer the sole importer or producer of fuel.

The Minister asked; “Will Atiku, as President (Which he never be) pay subsidy on fuel produced by Dangote Refinery?

“It also shows that he is confused, having insisted in the past that he will remove subsidy, which he described as a fraud.

Does it now mean that he will restore what he said was a fraud?”

He argued that restoring subsidy would contradict the Petroleum Industry Act, which he said was enacted to transform Nigeria’s midstream and downstream petroleum industry into a commercially driven, competitive market based on market pricing.

“Reintroducing government-controlled fuel prices would reverse this policy direction, create regulatory uncertainty and weaken investor confidence in the sector.

“It will also recreate the distortions Nigeria has spent years trying to eliminate. Experience has shown that fuel subsidies encourage smuggling, arbitrage, inefficiency and opaque fiscal practices, while reducing revenues available to the Federation Account. Rather than benefiting only Nigerians, artificially low domestic prices often subsidise fuel consumption beyond Nigeria’s borders.”

Wike said Atiku should instead explain how he intended to utilise the savings generated from subsidy removal if he believed the policy should remain in place.

“All I thought he would have argued, ‘Yes, I still believe in the removal of fuel subsidy, and I think that the savings made would have been utilised in this way or that way,’” Wike said.

The minister defended President Bola Tinubu’s subsidy removal policy, arguing that the savings had increased allocations to the different tiers of government.

He said the Federal Government had explained how the savings were distributed and challenged state and local governments to account for how they deployed the additional funds.

According to Wike, subsidy removal had also helped governments meet salary and pension obligations, noting that the situation in which states struggled to pay workers had eased considerably.

“Nobody talks about non-payment of pension, nobody talks about non-payment of salary. Before, for you to pay salary, you would beg and beg the banks to give you money. But all those things are things of the past,” he said.

Wike further dismissed suggestions that Atiku was currently one of the leading opposition candidates ahead of the 2027 presidential election, insisting that President Tinubu remained the dominant political figure.

“I disagree with you that Atiku is one of the leading candidates,” Wike told journalists. “You have only one leading candidate, and that’s Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu.”

He argued that the opposition was not sufficiently united to mount a serious challenge against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), claiming that the opposition was stronger in 2023 than it is currently.

“That’s why I say that 2027 is gone. It’s gone because you don’t have an opposition that want to wrestle power from the government,” he said.

The FCT minister also rejected claims of an increase in armed robbery incidents in Abuja, saying available security reports did not support the assertion.

Wike said there had been isolated incidents of crime but maintained that security agencies were responding to them.

“I disagree with you that there are more armed robbery cases,” he said, urging the media and members of the public to exercise caution when reporting security-related developments.

He said the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracked an individual allegedly impersonating security personnel and using fake materials to harass residents.

“I’m not saying there are no one or two incidents of crime, but to say the armed robbery has increased in Abuja, I don’t agree,” Wike said.

He added that genuine cases of armed robbery would ordinarily be reflected in security reports submitted by the relevant agencies.

Speaking on the infrastructure projects inspected during the visit, Wike expressed satisfaction with the progress of work and said several major projects were expected to be completed within the year.

He described one of the projects as a major intervention capable of transforming the city, while commending the contractors for the progress recorded.

Wike also said the construction around the Mpape bypass and Garki axis had helped reclaim land previously affected by a gully.

He commended the contractors handling the projects and expressed confidence that the work would be completed before the end of the year.

“We are satisfied with what we have seen. We’re very impressed that the promises made to our people are being fulfilled. Again, it’s what the whole agenda is all about,” he said.

The minister also declined to take responsibility for complaints that some Area Council chairmen were not doing enough to develop their councils.

He said the chairmen were elected by residents of their respective councils and therefore remained accountable to them.

“They are the people who elected them. They should ask them. I am not their I did not appoint them, they were elected,” Wike said.

He, however, acknowledged that some councils might have areas where their performance could be improved, noting that he had previously served as a council chairman.

“I was one-time a council chairman,” he said, adding that it would be unfair to conclude that the Area Council administrations were doing nothing.