Adams Oshiomhole, senator representing Edo north, has recounted how he mobilised Ogun residents to protest the removal of petrol subsidy under former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The former Edo governor spoke on Sunday during the seventh
national discourse organised by The Companion, an association of Muslim men in
business and the professions, at the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
The programme, themed ‘Nigeria’s Political Landscape and The
Ethno-Religious Divides’, was chaired by Ibrahim Shekarau, former governor of
Kano, with Obafemi Hazmat, deputy governor of Lagos, as special guest of
honour.
Obasanjo served as president of Nigeria between 1999 and
2007, during which Oshiomhole was president of the Nigeria Labour Congress
(NLC).
In June 2020, Atiku Abubakar, who was vice-president to
Obasanjo at the time, said he was the one assigned to negotiate with the NLC
chairman, but his efforts were frustrated.
During the conference, Oshiomhole recalled how he visited
Abeokuta and got people including Afolabi Salisu, chairman of senate committee
on ICT and cyber security, to canvass against petrol subsidy removal under
Obasanjo.
Oshiomhole said he rejected the removal because he believed
the Obasanjo’s administration at the time lacked the enabling capacity to
distribute the subsidy gains equitably to all Nigerians.
“All I tried to do when I was NLC President, for example,
was to go to Abeokuta and say to Abeokuta people… this subsidy Baba want to
take, he can take it, but he cannot return it to the poor because they claim it
is wasteful they will take it and do something for the poor,” Oshiomhole said.
“All I tried to do when I was NLC President, for example,
was to go to Abeokuta and say to Abeokuta people, ‘This subsidy Baba wants to
take, he can take it, but he cannot return it to the poor because they claim it
is wasteful. They will take it and do something for the poor.’” Oshiomhole
said.
“He has the capacity to take, but he doesn’t have the
enabling capacity to distribute it because certain infrastructure you need for
such distribution are absent.
“To prove [this to] the people, I got Ogun people, including
Afolabi, to go on strike against Obasanjo. When we organised those protests,
even the University of Lagos (UNILAG) workers and the students joined us. Only
the vice-chancellor and the HODs pretended to be neutral, but in private, they
agreed that if the battles succeed, they too will benefit for four years.”
He said some of the people who opposed his move at the time
have in recent times decried the high cost of petrol, but he told them the
struggle is over.
“Now, everybody is saying, ‘I can’t pay N100,000 for one
litre, how much is my salary. I have seen those who used to lecture me about
wastage, diversion, better deployment of resources, I have seen them now
speaking my language. But I told, no, we’ve moved on, forward ever, backward
never,” the senator said.
‘NOTHING LIKE ETHNIC RIGHTS’
Speaking on the theme of the conference, Oshiomhole said
ethnicity should have no place in a democracy, arguing that poor Nigerians
across the country face the same challenges.
“In rejecting feudal rulership and opting for democracy,
ethnicity should have no place, because the poor man from the west, north and
south all have the same federal character. And there is no difference between
the hunger in the Yoruba man’s stomach and that of the one in Urhobo or in
Auchi,” he said.
“In my view, there is no such thing as ethnic right because
within every ethnic group, you have the oppressor and the oppressed. You have
the good, the bad and the ugly. And you also have people of diverse religions.
It is so in the north and south.”
Oshiomhole noted that democracy is expected to amplify the
rights and privileges of an individual, not of an ethnic group.
“But ethnic champions and religious elites manipulate ethnic
privileges to provide a false basis for electioneering and means to acquire
power,” he said.
“My summary is this: we own Nigeria. The challenge we have
now is how to demystify the ethnic thing, remove that shield, let everybody
bear his father’s name. Let’s compete for power not on the basis of where you
come but on the basis of the ideas and values you bring. That way, we will
build a united country.”
BACKGROUND
The senator’s remarks came amid growing public debate over
the impact of the petrol subsidy removal since the beginning of the current
administration.
Opposition presidential candidates, including Atiku of the
African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Peter Obi, have in recent weeks
criticised the current administration over the poor utilisation of the subsidy
gains.
On Monday, Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria
Democratic Congress (NDC), reiterated his support for the subsidy removal,
arguing that the mismanagement of its proceeds isn’t enough reasons to bring
back the policy.
Also, Atiku, who had reportedly vowed to remove the subsidy
if elected president in the build-up to the 2023 election, however, made a
U-turn last Wednesday.
Speaking during an interview with an ADC media group, Atiku
said he would restore the petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu’s administration has
failed to account for the funds saved from the removal of the petrol subsidy.
Reacting, Tinubu said Atiku’s proposal showed “serious
ignorance of governance and economy”, noting that before he assumed office,
some states struggled to pay salaries and pensions.
The controversy followed a disclosure by Taiwo Oyedele,
minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, that the removal
of the petrol subsidy mobilised N15.8 trillion in resources for the federation
between June 2023 and December 2025.
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