Makinde tells Osinbajo: I miss your leadership as vice president

Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo state, says governance decisions were easier and more consultative during Yemi Osinbajo’s time as vice president, adding that “things are not the same” under the current administration.

Makinde spoke on Saturday in Ibadan at the 60th birthday celebration of Samson Ajetomobi, president of The Men of Issachar Vision Incorporated (MIV) and overseer of Redemption Faith Churches. Osinbajo was among the guests at the event.

Addressing Osinbajo directly, the governor said he missed his presence in government.

“Sir, I personally miss you in that position,” Makinde said. “A lot of people may not know why things are not really the same. This is not a political talk, because I’m not on that podium.”

Makinde recalled events during the early months of his administration, particularly the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, when Osinbajo chaired the National Economic Council.

He said governors were advised to impose lockdowns, but that Osinbajo’s intervention influenced his decision not to shut down Oyo state.

“I was barely seven months into office, and that was my first public service role,” Makinde said. “We had a crisis in the country. At a National Economic Council meeting, it was suggested that all states should be locked down. For Oyo state, the reason we did not lock down during COVID was because of his decision.”

The governor contrasted that experience with what he described as the current administration’s handling of the proposed tax reforms under President Bola Tinubu.

According to Makinde, calls by some governors to review the tax bill were ignored.

“We had a similar situation in this dispensation with the tax bill,” he said. “We said it should be brought back so everyone could look at it objectively. But in this dispensation, you cannot speak truth to power. The tax bill will go ahead.”

Makinde has consistently opposed Tinubu’s tax reforms. In September last year, he declined to give assent to the tax bill passed by the Oyo state house of assembly, arguing that it would worsen the economic hardship faced by low-income earners.