“Tinubu Has No Power To Tell States, Local Governments What To Do With Subsidy Gains” — Wike Says Subsidy Gains Have Strengthened State Finances
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has said President Bola Tinubu cannot dictate how state and local governments spend the additional revenues accruing to them following the removal of petrol subsidy, insisting that every tier of government is responsible for how it manages its own funds.
Wike spoke on Wednesday during a media parley in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, while responding to comments by former Anambra State governor and presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on the utilisation of funds generated from the subsidy removal.
The former Rivers State governor argued that attention should shift from the Federal Government to how states and local governments are applying the increased allocations they now receive.
According to him, once the gains from subsidy removal have been distributed among the different tiers of government, the President cannot determine how states or local governments should spend their respective shares.
“All he should have asked is, ‘Having removed the subsidy, what do you do with the gains?’ This is what I think a reasonable person should talk about,” Wike said.
“Now, the government has said the gains have been shared among sub-nationals. Tinubu has no power to say, ‘State, this is what you should do with the funds that you’ve brought in from the fuel subsidy.’
“He has no power to tell local governments what to do with their money. All tiers of government are independent.”
Wike maintained that increased federal allocations following the removal of the subsidy had improved the financial position of many states, enabling them to meet obligations that were previously difficult to discharge.
He said that before the increased revenues, some state governments regularly complained about their inability to pay salaries and pensions, while workers embarked on strikes over unpaid entitlements.
According to him, that situation has changed considerably in several states.
“Today states are saying, unlike before, we can’t pay salaries or pensions, and there are strikes all over the place. Now there are no strikes; there are advantages. Now, I have money to carry out projects,” he said.
The FCT Minister also defended President Tinubu’s decision to remove the petrol subsidy, describing it as a difficult but courageous policy decision that previous administrations had avoided.
Wike said Tinubu deserved commendation for taking the decision, but stressed that the responsibility had now shifted to state governments to explain how they were utilising the additional revenues available to them.
“Tinubu deserves kudos for taking the bold decision no president took. Now, it’s time for states to account for the funds they have gotten,” he said.
His position is that the debate over subsidy removal should no longer focus solely on the Federal Government, since the additional revenues generated from the policy are shared across the federation.
Wike therefore maintained that governors and local government authorities should be held accountable for the deployment of their respective allocations, rather than expecting the President to prescribe how the funds should be spent.