Deborah Akinyosoye
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has taken a swipe at President Bola Tinubu, saying it has become difficult to speak truth to power under his government.
But former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, claimed that Makinde’s comment against Tinubu at former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s birthday party further confirmed that he got a cold shoulder from the President during his last visit to the Villa.
Speaking at a function on Saturday in Ibadan, Makinde compared the situation with what he described as a more consultative approach during the tenure of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
The governor said he missed Osinbajo’s style of leadership under Buhari.
“You cannot speak truth to power in this dispensation,” Makinde said, while faulting the Tinubu administration’s handling of the tax reform bills. “We had the same situation in this dispensation; it was the tax bill, and we said, ‘Look, bring the tax bill back; let us all have an opportunity to look dispassionately at it.’
“They said the tax bill will go ahead. It is an affront on even the governors. The tax bill, we don’t know what was passed at the National Assembly; we don’t also know what was signed up. When I say I miss you (Osinbajo), I miss you so much, sir,” he said.
He said Osinbajo’s leadership as chairman of the National Economic Council (NEC) influenced his decision not to impose a total lockdown in Oyo.
In a statement made available, Fayose stated: “In his attempt to do a damage control on his public speech against the President, Makinde met the shock of his political life when he visited Asiwaju last week.
“It is now obvious that after getting that cold shoulder from the President, Makinde must have realised that the end of the road has come in terms of reconciliation between him and the President. This is more so that Asiwaju made it clear that as far as Oyo is concerned, he will support his party’s candidates in 2027.”
Fayose accused Makinde of trying to turn himself into “the emergency opposition mouthpiece” after the unpalatable response he got from the President last week.
He added: “If Makinde had got the soft-landing he expected from the President, he (Makinde) wouldn’t have gone to make that statement, condemning the government of President Tinubu, by calling the President a dictator while praising Buhari’s administration.
“With these assurances too, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo should now wake up and slug it out with Makinde’s candidate, which he will field under the African Democratic Congress (ADC), knowing well that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won’t be open for him to use.”