Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, has revealed how he mobilised residents of Ogun State to protest against the removal of fuel subsidy during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Speaking at the seventh national discourse organised by The Companion, an association of Muslim professionals, at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Oshiomhole explained that as President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) at the time, he opposed subsidy removal because he feared the proceeds would be lost to corruption.

He recounted visiting Abeokuta, where he persuaded figures such as Senator Afolabi Salisu, Chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT and Cyber Security, to join the resistance. 

According to him, Obasanjo’s government lacked the systems to fairly redistribute the benefits of subsidy removal.

“When I was NLC President, I told the people in Abeokuta: Baba can take the subsidy, but he cannot give it back to the poor. He has the ability to take, but not to share,” Oshiomhole said.

He added that the protests drew support from workers and students at UNILAG, while senior university officials maintained neutrality in public but privately admitted they would benefit if the resistance succeeded.

The discourse, themed Nigeria’s Political Landscape and the Ethno-Religious Divides, was chaired by former Kano governor Ibrahim Shekarau, with Lagos Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat as special guest of honour.

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