Why I Led Ogun People To Protest Against Obasanjo Over Subsidy Removal – Oshiomhole

Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has disclosed that fears over how proceeds from fuel subsidy removal will be utilised led him to organise residents of Ogun State to protest against the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Naija News reports that Oshiomhole made the disclosure 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, with the theme ‘Nigeria’s Political Landscape and The Ethno-Religious Divides’, was led by a former governor of Kano, Ibrahim Shekarau, and had the deputy governor of Lagos, Obafemi Hazmat, as the special guest of honour.

Recounting the protest, Oshiomhole said he visited Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, and got people like the Chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT and cyber security, Afolabi Salisu, to oppose the removal of the petrol subsidy under Obasanjo.

Oshiomhole said he rejected the subsidy removal because he believed the Obasanjo administration lacked the capacity to distribute its benefits fairly to Nigerians.

He said, “When I was the NLC President, for example, I went to Abeokuta and told the people there, this subsidy Baba wants to take, he can take it, but he cannot give it back to the poor because they say it’s wasteful.

“He has the ability to take, but he doesn’t have the ability to share it because the necessary systems for sharing are not in place.

“To prove this to the people, I got the Ogun people, including Afolabi, to go on strike against Obasanjo. When we organised those protests, even the workers from the University of Lagos, UNILAG, and the students joined us.

“Only the vice-chancellor and the heads of departments acted like they were neutral, but in private, they agreed that if the fight was successful, they would also gain from it for four years.”