Adams Oshiomhole Rejects Ethnic Politics and Subsidy Removal

Senator Adams Oshiomhole criticized the use of ethnicity in Nigerian democracy and recounted his history of opposing petrol subsidy removal during a national discourse organized by The Companion at the University of Lagos.

Oshiomhole detailed his previous efforts as president of the Nigeria Labour Congress to mobilize workers at the University of Lagos and residents of Ogun State to protest subsidy cuts under former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He stated that he opposed the removal because the Obasanjo administration lacked the capacity to distribute the resulting gains equitably to the poor.

Addressing current political tensions, Oshiomhole argued that ethnicity should have no place in a democracy, asserting that poor Nigerians from the north, south, and west all share the same federal character and challenges. These comments come as President Bola Tinubu and opposition figure Atiku Abubakar continue to disagree over the management and potential restoration of petrol subsidies.