The FCT minister says reversing subsidy removal would undermine Nigeria’s petroleum reforms and questions Atiku’s changing position ahead of 2027

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Thursday, August 20, 2026, in Abuja, criticised former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar over his reported position on fuel subsidy, accusing the 2027 presidential hopeful of changing his stance for political advantage.

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Wike, who spoke while inspecting ongoing infrastructure projects across the Federal Capital Territory, defended President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove the petrol subsidy and challenged Atiku to explain why he would seek to reverse a policy he once supported.

The exchange comes as Nigeria’s 2027 presidential contest moves into a more active phase, with Atiku emerging as the ADC’s presidential candidate and former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi as his running mate.

The ADC formally submitted Atiku and Amaechi’s details to the Independent National Electoral Commission in July.

Wike recalled that Atiku had promised during the 2023 campaign to address fuel subsidy within his first 100 days in office if elected.

Contemporary reports support that position. In December 2022, Atiku said he would remove the subsidy within his first 100 days and promised a roadmap for investing the proceeds.

Atiku had also previously described subsidy as a major distortion in Nigeria’s economy. During the 2023 campaign, he said he had chaired committees involved in earlier subsidy reductions and pledged to continue the process until subsidies were completely removed.

Against that background, Wike questioned the former vice president’s current position.

“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 went further, describing Atiku as a “voodoo economist” and accusing him of adjusting his political positions to appeal to voters.

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

The minister argued that leadership required consistency, particularly on policies with far-reaching consequences for the economy and public finances.

“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.

The subsidy debate has become increasingly prominent as the 2027 campaign season opens. The ADC has indicated that it would restore fuel subsidy support for low-income and commercial transport users, including operators of tricycles and minibuses, if elected.

The party has criticised the manner in which the Tinubu administration removed the subsidy.

Wike, however, argued that Nigeria’s petroleum industry had changed significantly since the earlier subsidy era.

He pointed to the Petroleum Industry Act, which provided for the transition of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation into NNPC Limited, a limited liability company operating under a commercial framework. NNPC formally transitioned into the new structure in 2022.

NNPC Limited itself has stated that it operates on a commercial basis under the Petroleum Industry Act.

Wike therefore questioned how a future administration would restore a broad government-controlled subsidy regime in an increasingly market-oriented downstream petroleum sector.

“Will Atiku, as President, which he will never be, pay subsidy on fuel produced by Dangote Refinery?” he asked.

For Wike, the question goes beyond the politics of petrol prices. He argued that a return to government-controlled prices could create regulatory uncertainty and weaken confidence in private investment in the petroleum industry.

He also warned that reinstating subsidies could recreate some of the distortions associated with the previous regime, including smuggling, arbitrage and opaque fiscal practices.

The Federal Government has consistently presented subsidy removal as a central part of its economic reform programme.

President Tinubu said in May that the decision had saved Nigeria from imminent bankruptcy and created a foundation for gradual economic recovery, although the government has acknowledged that the reform has been painful for households.

Atiku has taken a markedly different view of the implementation of the reform, particularly its effect on living standards and public finances.

In July, he criticised the government over what he described as continued subsidy spending under the label of “energy security expenses”, citing NNPC Limited’s 2024 audited financial statements and alleging that N7.13 trillion was involved.

The government and its officials have disputed several of Atiku’s broader criticisms of the reform programme.

The former vice president has also argued that the hardship associated with subsidy removal, currency reforms, taxes and other economic measures has not been matched by sufficient improvement in Nigerians’ living conditions.

Wike, however, said the savings associated with subsidy removal had strengthened allocations to the three tiers of government.

He challenged state and local governments to account for how the additional resources had been used, arguing that increased public revenue had improved governments’ ability to meet salary and pension obligations.

“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,” Wike said.

His defence comes amid a wider national argument over whether the gains from subsidy removal have sufficiently offset the higher cost of living experienced by households and businesses.

The debate is likely to remain central to the 2027 election, with the Tinubu administration presenting the reforms as necessary corrections to longstanding fiscal distortions, while opposition figures argue that the burden has fallen disproportionately on ordinary Nigerians.

Wike also dismissed the suggestion that Atiku should be regarded as one of the leading contenders against Tinubu in the next presidential election.

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

The minister maintained that the opposition was not sufficiently united to defeat the governing All Progressives Congress, arguing that the opposition had been stronger in 2023 than it is now.

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

His assessment reflects a broader political reality ahead of the election. Recent reporting has highlighted the fragmentation of the opposition despite attempts to build a coalition capable of challenging Tinubu.

Atiku and Peter Obi remain among the prominent opposition figures, but efforts to consolidate their political forces have so far failed to produce a unified challenger.

Beyond the political contest, Wike used Thursday’s inspection to address security concerns in Abuja and reject claims that armed robbery had increased significantly across the capital.

He acknowledged isolated criminal incidents but said security agencies were responding to them.

“I disagree with you that there are more armed robbery cases,” Wike said.

He disclosed that the Department of State Services had tracked an individual allegedly impersonating security personnel and using fake security 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,” he added.

Wike urged the media and members of the public to exercise caution when assessing security developments, particularly where isolated incidents could create a wider impression of deteriorating security.

The minister also expressed satisfaction with the progress of infrastructure projects inspected during the visit, saying several major schemes were expected to be completed before the end of the year.

He described one of the interventions as capable of significantly transforming parts of the capital and praised contractors for the progress achieved.

Construction around the Mpape bypass and Garki axis, he said, had also helped reclaim areas previously affected by gully erosion.

“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,” Wike said.

He was also asked about complaints concerning the performance of some Area Council chairmen and declined to accept responsibility for their shortcomings, noting that the officials were elected by residents of their respective councils.

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

Wike, however, stopped short of dismissing all criticism of the councils, acknowledging that some administrations could improve their performance.

Drawing on his own experience as a former council chairman, he said it would be unfair to conclude that all Area Council administrations were doing nothing.

For Wike, Thursday’s remarks brought together two issues likely to dominate Nigeria’s political conversation over the coming months: the economic consequences of the Tinubu reforms and the opposition’s competing promise of a different direction.

His criticism of Atiku therefore goes beyond a disagreement over petrol pricing.

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It reflects a deeper argument over whether Nigeria should continue with the market-oriented reforms introduced since 2023 or revisit policies that once placed a heavier financial responsibility on the government.