The governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, was a well-known Nigerian businessman and engineering genius before he went into politics. He had been a top executive at many Nigerian and international oil and gas companies before going on to establish his own company.
Seyi Makinde news started becoming widely popular after he emerged as the Oyo State governor in 2019. Before this victory, he had been engaged in politics for far longer. Here we give a well detailed Seyi Makinde profile and provide the latest Oyo State news about him as well.
To kick start this article about Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde, we first give answers to some of the most popular questions about him in the next section.
Top 10 Seyi Makinde facts
- Seyi Makinde was born as Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde on 25 December 1967. He turned 53 years old on his 2020 birthday.
- Before he became the governor of Oyo State, he was an engineer with certification from prestigious institutions such as UNILAG, Lagos Business School (now Pan-Atlantic University), Jiskoot Auto Control Training Centre and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
- In 1997, Makinde established his own business, Makon Engineering and Technical Services Limited (METS), at the age of 29 following stints working at Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Rebold International Limited.
- Seyi Makinde became more popular in political circles when he contested for the Oyo South Senatorial seat in 2007 under the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) but lost to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate – Kamoru Adedibu. He tried again in 2010 for the Oyo South 2011 Senatorial seat under PDP and lost again.
- In 2015, Seyi Makinde contested for the PDP gubernatorial 2015 election ticket for the first time and lost. He defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) under whose platform he ran for the governorship seat, which he lost.
- He rejoined PDP following the intervention of the Caretaker National Chairman of PDP Senator Ahmed Makarfi and other political stakeholders like national leaders, Oyo State leaders, elders of the SDP, and cross-sections of strategic partners within Oyo State.
- On rejoining the PDP, Seyi Makinde won the gubernatorial candidate ticket and in March 2019, contested for the state governorship position for a second time. This time, he defeated Mr Adebayo Adelabu of the All Progressive Party (APC) at the polls. He was sworn in as the 28th executive Governor of Oyo State thereafter.
- As part of his achievements as governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde successfully negotiated the dissolution of the joint ownership of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology LAUTECH between Osun State and Oyo State.
- The governor of Oyo State Seyi Makinde is married to Tamunominini Makinde and they have three children together. Both his parents are late.
- Makinde belongs to many professional bodies such as the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Council for Regulations of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Oil and Gas Design Engineers of Nigeria (OGDEN), International Society of Automation (ISA), Institute of Measurement and Control UK; and American Measurement Institute (AMI).
Also read: Abiola Ajimobi Biography: Early life, education, political career and death
Seyi Makinde profile: Early life and education
Seyi Makinde was born as Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde on 25 December 1967. His father, late Pa Olatubosun Makinde, was a popular former teacher in Oyo State who later became an accountant. According to sources, his mother was Madam Abigail Makinde of Aigbofa Compound in Oja’ba, Ibadan.
Seyi Makinde is the third child of his family. His elder brother is a traditional ruler in Ibadan who uses the title Jagun Olubadan of Ibadanland. There is not much publicly available information regarding the Oyo State governor’s other siblings.
Seyi Makinde started schooling at St Paul Primary School but switched to St Michael Primary School in Yemetu, Ibadan, where he completed his primary education. After that, he started secondary school at Bishop Phillips Academy, Monatan, Ibadan.
He completed secondary school at a young age and by 18, Seyi Makinde had already gained admission to the University of Lagos (UNILAG) to study electrical engineering. He graduated with a BSc in electrical/electronic engineering in 1990.
In 1997, after a brief working stint of about seven years, he went abroad to further his studies. He got a year’s worth of training on Safety Shutdown System at the Industrial Control Services in Houston, Texas. Thereafter, he returned to Nigeria in 1998.
On his return, Engineer Makinde, as many close friends and relations called him, went for another training on Development of Analytical Competence for Managing Operations at Lagos Business School (now Pan-Atlantic University). He completed his training in 1999 and started another one.
This time, he obtained training in automation – a branch of engineering that deals with the creation and application of technologies to produce and deliver goods and services with minimal human intervention.
Seyi Makinde went abroad again in 2001 for another engineering course. He took a course in Fundamentals of Crude Sampling at Jiskoot Auto Control Training Centre, Kent, England, and got certification in 2002.
He also went to the United States of America in 2005 to complete a course on Understanding and Solving Complex Business Problems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA.
Seyi Makinde Profile: Professional career
During his compulsory one-year national service as a member of the NYSC, Seyi Makinde got a placement with the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC). He worked there until 1992 before jumping ship to Rebold International Limited.
It appears that the governor of Oyo State had done some field engineering work in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, until 1995. After this, he was promoted to the position of a field manager.
However, in 1997, Makinde established his own business, Makon Engineering and Technical Services Limited (METS), at the age of 29. The engineering startup with Seyi Makinde at the helm of affairs has now grown to be known as Makon Group of Companies.
Makon Group of Companies
Makon Group is an internationally certified organisation with business interests in the oil and gas facilities, upstream/midstream operations. It handles facility projects for the Nigerian government and other clients.
Seyi Makinde: Recognitions
The Oyo State governor is a member of many national and international professional bodies. Some of them are the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Council for Regulations of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Oil and Gas Design Engineers of Nigeria (OGDEN), International Society of Automation (ISA), Institute of Measurement and Control UK and the American Measurement Institute (AMI).
Seyi Makinde News: Political career
After establishing the well-run Makon Group, Makinde became active in politics. It was not until 2007 that Seyi Makinde news became popular in political circles. That year, he contested for the Oyo South Senatorial seat under the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) but lost to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate – Kamoru Adedibu.
In 2010, he tried again. By this time, he had joined the PDP and then ran against the incumbent Oyo South Senator for the Oyo South 2011 Senatorial seat. He lost a second time.
Makinde started gunning for the governorship position as the senatorial seat had eluded him twice. His first bid for the gubernatorial election was in 2014. He tried to obtain the Oyo State 2015 governorship ticket under the platform of PDP in December 2014. However, he was denied the nomination ticket after the result for the party’s primary election was called.
Defection from PDP and return
Seyi Makinde defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) because they promised him the governorship nomination ticket. In the Oyo State gubernatorial election in 2015, Makinde, under the SDP banner, ran against his former party PDP and others and lost the election.
His defection from PDP had caused some unrest within the party. Thus, in September 2017, the Caretaker National Chairman of PDP, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, visited Seyi Makinde in his home in Ibadan. Makarfi and other political stakeholders like national Leaders, Oyo State leaders, elders of the SDP, and cross-sections of strategic partners within Oyo State all interceded on the matter.
This led to Seyi Makinde returning to his former political party – PDP. Speaking about his return, Vanguard quoted Makinde as saying:
“This repositioning is not primarily to pursue personal ambition but was largely informed by the resolution of all opposition parties in the state as contained in a recent communique signed by leaders of opposition parties to work together in Oyo state so as to find lasting solutions to the myriad challenges and underdevelopment facing Oyo citizens, such as Educational dysfunction and perennial failure, social and economic woes and lack of adequate security- all which are outcomes and consequences of the ineffective six years of the All progressives Congress rule in our state.”
Victory at 2019 Oyo State governorship election
On rejoining the PDP, Seyi Makinde picked up the gubernatorial candidate form again in 2019 ahead of the general elections. He defeated his closest rival for the candidateship, Senator Hamzat Ayoade Adeseun. Makinde had secured 2,772 votes while Adeseun managed to get 21.
Thus, he ran for the State governorship position a second time in March 2019. This time, he defeated Mr Adebayo Adelabu of the All Progressive Party (APC) at the polls. On 29 May 2019, Seyi Makinde was sworn in as the 28th executive governor of Oyo State.
He succeeded the late Senator Abiola Ajimobi who had served as governor for eight years. Let us take a brief look at some of the most recent Seyi Makinde news since he became Oyo State governor.
Seyi Makinde on EndSARS protest
During the EndSARS protests in October 2020, Seyi Makinde notably debunked a police statement over the death of a protester. According to Oyo State news outlets, the state’s police spokesman Olugbenga Fadeyi had claimed that officers did not fire at EndSARS protesters in Ogbomosho.
“The Police did not fire a shot or kill any protester as widely circulated,” Fadeyi said in his statement. He claimed that they had only used tear gas to disperse the protesters because they had gotten violent.
However, Nigerian youths continued to call out the government after Jimoh Isiaka was reportedly killed at one of the protest grounds by a police officer.
Later, the governor took to Twitter to confirm the death of Jimoh Isiaka by police officers. “I have received with deep sadness the news of the passing of one of our children, Jimoh Isiaka, who was shot during the ENDSARS protest in Ogbomoso. He later died at Bowen University Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, earlier today,” Makinde tweeted.
“Also, at this same protest, Abdulrasaq Olawale, Oluwadamilare Gbolohunmi, and five other persons sustained injuries and were taken to hospital for treatment.”
Additionally, he saw to it that six protesters were released from police custody and charges against them withdrawn. In November 2020, he inaugurated the Oyo State Judicial Panel of Inquiry into Police Brutality, Violation of Rights of Citizens and Unlawful Killings.
Seyi Makinde on COVID-19
In March 2020 after the first few cases of COVID-19 were reported, Oyo State governor Seyi Makinde set up a COVID-19 task force in the state. He had tested positive for the coronavirus in April 2020 but on making a full recovery, he went back to head the task force team as they continued battling the pandemic.
He also used his Twitter page to give regular updates on the pandemic. In May 2020, Seyi Makinde announced additional temporary isolation centres in the state to manage the increasing number of cases.
Seyi Makinde’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic earned him lots of praise. He distributed palliatives in May 2020 to ease the financial strain of the pandemic and by the end of October, he had distributed the fifth phase of palliatives.
In January 2021, he announced that the state had conducted 20,000 tests since testing began in Nigeria.
Seyi Makinde on Social Media Bill
In November 2020, Seyi Makinde mentioned that he was not in support of the proposed social media bill in Nigeria. Tweeting from his official Twitter account, he wrote:
“I also clarified the misrepresentation of the position of the Southwest leaders on the so-called social media bill. Contrary to media reports, our position remains that since we already have an extensive Cybercrime Act, 2015 we don’t need any other bills to regulate social media.”
I also clarified the misrepresentation of the position of the Southwest leaders on the so-called social media bill. Contrary to media reports, our position remains that since we already have an extensive Cybercrime Act, 2015 we don’t need any other bills to regulate social media. pic.twitter.com/91ywiWZsKo
— Seyi Makinde (@seyiamakinde) November 10, 2020
Seyi Makinde on Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH)
While campaigning for office, Governor Seyi Makinde had promised that he would resolve the ownership of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH). He started by setting up a committee to negotiate the process.
The ownership of LAUTECH had been a source of conflict between the two-owner states (Oyo State and Osun State). This issue was because the university was founded by the former military government as Oyo State University of Technology in 1990 before Osun State split from it and became its own state.
On Friday, 20 November 2020 the National Universities Commission (NUC) announced the dissolution of the joint ownership of LAUTECH. The governors of both Oyo and Osun states had signed a memorandum of understanding. LAUTECH campus in Ogbomoso was ceded to Oyo state while the College of Health Sciences in Osogbo went to Osun State.
Seyi Makinde on Amotekun
In November, Seyi Makinde announced his support for the Amotekun Corps as a Western Nigeria Security Network. According to him, he asked members of the public to hold him responsible for their actions.
He mentioned that he was in support of state policing and the Amotekun Corps is a good move. “I am confident that someday, we will get enough support at the national level to achieve that constitutional review. But for now, we will settle for the next best thing; the Western Nigeria Security Network [code-named] Amotekun. It is an independent outfit. Members will answer to the state governors but they will be working with the federal security agencies,” Seyi Makinde said.
Oyo State news agencies also reported that the governor will be tasking Amotekun with crime prevention, investigation of crime, arrest and prosecution of persons suspected of kidnapping, terrorism, destruction of livelihood, criminal damage to properties, cultism, highway robbery and any other illegal activities.
Amotekun corps are to be drafted to all 351 wards in Oyo State and they will be involved in day and night patrol on major roads and remote areas as well.
Latest Oyo State news on Sunday Igboho and Seyi Makinde
The latest Oyo State news that concerns Seyi Makinde is about Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, and considered by many as a ‘freedom fighter’. He recently became famous for dislodging criminal herders from Igangan in Ibarapa, Oyo State according to a report by The Nation newspaper.
Igboho had allegedly visited a popular herder Seriki Hausa of Igangan, Alhaji Saliu Abdulkadir, and warned him and his kinsmen to leave the area within seven days before he went on to forcefully eject him.
His actions appear to have placed him in direct collision with Seyi Makinde. The governor of Oyo State ordered the police to arrest Sunday Igboho stating that ‘criminal elements’ and not ‘any particular ethnic group’ are the enemy of the state.
While there has been no Oyo State news on the arrest of Sunday Igboho, the latest report is that his house was burnt. According to many media houses in Nigeria, ‘unknown men’ set fire on Igboho’s house in Ibadan on Tuesday, 26 January 2021.
Seyi Makinde: Personal life
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State married Tamunominini Makinde and they have three children together. He lost his mother, Abigail Makinde, in October 2020. She was aged 81. The family reported that she had died peacefully despite not showing any symptom of illness.
Makinde is also a passionate golfer and reportedly plays at least three times a week at the lush course of the Ibadan Golf Club. He sponsors the multi-million naira Seyi Makinde Women Support Group Golf tourney annually.
Seyi Makinde: Net worth
There is no official report about Seyi Makinde’s net worth but no doubt, he is likely a very wealthy man. He owns an oil and gas company (as we already reported) and this likely generates a large amount of money.
In addition, as a governor, he earns about 2.22 million naira monthly as his basic salary. This is not all, Nigerian Infopedia reports that governors are also entitled to a leave allowance of 222,310 naira, vehicle loan, end of tenure gratuity of 6.6 million naira.
While we cannot confirm the figures above, there are many reports that place the basic salary of a Nigerian governor at about 2 million naira or more every month.
Thus, Seyi Makinde will have a very high net worth if all the facts are laid down.
Engineer! So well educated, probably why he is delivering well.
Very impressive.
Cool man
I kinda like this guy