Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has said he “misses” the leadership style of former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, asserting that national decision-making has changed since Osinbajo left office.
Governor Makinde spoke on Saturday during the 60th birthday celebration of Samson Ajetomobi, president of The Men of Issachar Vision Incorporated and overseer of Redemption Faith Churches, held in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Former Vice-President Osinbajo was among the dignitaries at the event.
Addressing Osinbajo directly, Makinde said his comments were neither political nor aimed at any podium.
“Sir, I personally miss you in that position (as vice president). 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,” he said.
The Governor recalled how Osinbajo’s leadership as chairman of the National Economic and Financial Council (NEC) influenced his own decisions during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, soon after he assumed office as governor.
“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,” Makinde 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 had a meeting before that, but they came in and said we should all go back and lock down our states. So, for Oyo State people, why I did not lock down during COVID was because of his decision.”
Makinde said Osinbajo’s inclusive approach at NEC allowed room for debate and consideration of differing viewpoints among governors — a practice he argued has become less prevalent under the current federal administration.
The Governor also criticised the handling of the recently enacted national tax reform bills, which have continued to generate debate across the country.
He described the process as lacking transparent consultation and meaningful engagement with state leaders.
“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 said.
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