By Aliyu Oyewole
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has taken a swipe at former Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, recalling the controversial “half salary” era during his administration in the state.
Tinubu made the remark on Thursday while receiving Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, days after Adeleke secured re-election in the August 15 governorship election.
The President was responding to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to reconsider the removal of petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027.
Defending his administration’s decision to remove the subsidy, Tinubu argued that state governments previously struggled to meet their salary obligations, leaving millions of workers and pensioners without full payments.
He then referenced the situation in Osun State under Aregbesola, who governed the state between 2010 and 2018.
“In your state, I know a man that I raised who is nicknamed half salary,” Tinubu said.
The remark was a clear reference to Aregbesola, whose administration became associated with the “half salary” label after the state introduced a modulated salary payment system during a period of severe financial difficulties.
The salary arrangement, introduced in 2015, saw some categories of civil servants receive 50 per cent of their salaries, while others received higher percentages, as the state struggled with its finances.
The controversy surrounding the policy has remained a major political issue in Osun, with supporters and critics of the former governor offering different accounts of how and why it was introduced.
Tinubu and Aregbesola were once close political allies, with the former Lagos State governor playing a major role in Aregbesola’s emergence in Osun politics. However, their political relationship later deteriorated, particularly around the 2022 Osun governorship election.
Aregbesola is now a national figure in the African Democratic Congress (ADC), having moved away from the APC political structure.
Tinubu’s latest comment comes amid heightened political activity ahead of the 2027 general elections, with the President increasingly facing criticism from opposition figures over his economic policies.
The President used the Osun example to argue that the removal of fuel subsidy had increased revenue available to states and strengthened their capacity to meet obligations to workers and pensioners.
The reference to Aregbesola also comes days after the former governor’s political influence became a subject of discussion during the recently concluded Osun governorship election, in which Governor Adeleke defeated APC candidate Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji.
