Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, says he misses former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo’s leadership.
Makinde spoke on Saturday at the 60th birthday celebration
of Samson Ajetomobi, president of The Men of Issachar Vision Incorporated (MIV)
and overseer of the Redemption Faith Churches, in Ibadan, Oyo state capital,
where 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 Oyo state down during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I remember I was barely seven months into the position of
the governor of Oyo state and that was my very first public service job. And we
had a crisis in the country; this was February 2020,” the governor said.
“There was Covid, and we came in for the national economic
council meeting. It was a hot meeting; the chairman of the council (Osinbajo)
came in and a few of my colleagues. I wasn’t sure whether they held a meeting
before that meeting, but they came in and said we should all go back and lock
down our state.
“So, for Oyo state people, why I did not lock down during
Covid was because of his decision.”
Makinde contrasted this ease of decision with President Bola
Tinubu’s refusal to withdraw the tax bill, criticising the administration’s
handling of the matter.
“But we had the same situation in this dispensation; it was
the tax bill, and we said, ‘Look, bring the tax bill; bring it 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.”
Makinde has long opposed Tinubu’s tax reforms.
Last September, the governor declined assent to the bill
after passage by the state assembly, insisting that it would impose additional
burdens on the poor who were already struggling due to the current economic
reality in the country.
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