Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has replied former Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, saying President Bola Tinubu inherited a dead economy with the country on the verge of collapse.
Wike made this statement on Friday, when he appeared as a guest on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television.
He refuted claims that the Tinubu government damaged the country’s economy.
“He took over, he took over an economy that was gone. Was totally gone, Nigeria was ready to be buried. Luckily, it has not been buried. Someone (Tinubu) came and said, ‘No, I will not allow you to be buried’,” Wike said.
DAILY POST reports that Tinubu took over power in May 2023 from his party man, Muhammadu Buhari, after eight years.
The president upon assumption of office, immediately removed fuel subsidy and later floated the naira, two policies that led to a rise in the cost of living.
The twin decisions have led to many protests and criticism of the Tinubu government over the handling of the economy.
Amaechi, who served under former president Muhammau Buhari as a Minister, alleged that the current government has completely buried the economy.
However, Wike has defended the removal of the subsidy, and the president’s economic policies.
“Take, for example, the fuel subsidy removal. Everyone said this was a scam. So what do we do? He (Tinubu) came and said, ‘I will not allow this again. It has to go’,” Wike said.
The immediate past Rivers State Governor admitted that while the move came with a lot of challenges, including the hike in the cost of the essential product from around N200 to about N1,000 per litre, state governments now have more funds to work with.