Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo state, says he misses the leadership of former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
Makinde spoke on Saturday at the 60th birthday celebration of Samson Ajetomobi, president of The Men of Issachar Vision Incorporated (MIV) and overseer of Redemption Faith Churches, held in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital. Osinbajo was also in attendance.
“Sir, I personally miss you in that position (as vice-president),” Makinde told Osinbajo.
“A lot of people may not know why things are not really the same. It’s not a political talk because I’m not on that podium.”
Makinde recalled how Osinbajo’s decision prevented him from locking down Oyo state during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I remember I was barely seven months into my position as governor of Oyo state, and that was my very first public service job. Then we had a crisis in the country in February 2020,” he said.
“There was COVID-19, and we came in for the National Economic Council meeting. It was a hot meeting. The chairman of the council (Osinbajo) came in with a few of my colleagues. I wasn’t sure whether they had held a prior meeting, but they came in and said we should all go back and lock down our states.
“So, for the people of Oyo state, the reason I did not lock down during COVID was because of his decision.”
Makinde contrasted that experience with President Bola Tinubu’s refusal to withdraw the proposed tax bill, criticising the administration’s handling of the matter.
“We had a similar situation in this dispensation with the tax bill. We said, ‘Bring the tax bill back; let us all have an opportunity to look dispassionately at it.’ But you cannot speak truth to power in this dispensation; the tax bill will go ahead,” he said.
Makinde has long opposed Tinubu’s tax reforms.
Last September, the governor declined to assent to the bill after its passage by the state assembly, insisting it would impose additional burdens on poor Nigerians already struggling with the country’s current economic realities.
