By Our Reporter
IBADAN (PRECISE POST) – Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has launched a sharp critique of President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, faulting the administration’s handling of the new tax regime and declaring that governance under the current leadership falls short of the Buhari–Osinbajo era.
Makinde made the remarks 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. Former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was among the dignitaries in attendance.
Addressing Osinbajo directly, Makinde said he personally missed seeing him in the presidency, suggesting that the absence of his leadership style partly explains the country’s current challenges.
“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.”
The governor recalled events during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, crediting Osinbajo’s intervention as chairman of the National Economic Council for preventing a lockdown in Oyo State.
Makinde said he had been barely seven months in office when the pandemic broke out and pressure mounted for governors to shut down their states. According to him, Osinbajo’s leadership at a tense NEC meeting influenced the outcome.
“For Oyo State people, why I did not lock down during COVID was because of his decision,” Makinde said.
Turning to the present administration, the governor drew a stark contrast, citing the recently passed tax bill as evidence of what he described as an unwillingness to listen to dissenting views.
Makinde, who declined assent to a similar tax bill passed by the Oyo State House of Assembly last September, said appeals for broader consultation were ignored at the federal level.
“We had the same situation in this dispensation,” he said. “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.”
The comments come just days after Makinde paid a visit to President Tinubu. Although details of their closed-door meeting were not disclosed, the governor later told journalists he remained comfortable staying within the Peoples Democratic Party, signaling no immediate plans to defect despite his engagement with the president.
Precise Post recalls that Makinde’s remarks have added to growing public debate over the Tinubu administration’s tax reforms and widened the political rift over governance style and decision-making at the highest level.
