The 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has again called on President Bola Tinubu to either resign or abstain from seeking re-election in the forthcoming general elections over the president’s “poor handling” of insecurity in the country.
Mr Obi, in a post on his verified X handle on Monday, claimed Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State told him Mr Tinubu did not contact him more than 50 days after the abduction of schoolchildren and teachers in the state.
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The NDC candidate, a former governor of Anambra State, said Mr Tinubu’s failure to rescue the abducted victims and tackle the security crisis in the country demonstrates his “incapacity and a lack of compassion.”
“The government and people of Oyo State, more than 50 days after the abduction of the schoolchildren without any tangible effort toward their rescue, should rightly feel bitter and abandoned,” he stated.
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The former governor said he visited Governor Makinde in the company of Nigerian political economist, Pat Utomi, on Friday, during which he learned from the governor that Mr Tinubu had not contacted him to express his sympathy over the abduction.
“Amid such an apparent display of incompetence, the President should either resign or, at the very least, abstain from seeking re-election for the sake of our dear country. This call is patriotic, not political,” he said.
Mr Obi recalled that former Nigerian presidents, such as Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, usually called several times when similar attacks occurred under their administrations.
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“I remember the only case of a school kidnapping during President Goodluck Jonathan’s era – the Chibok girls. It drew local and international attention.
“Even though the security agencies provided almost daily updates on their efforts, Nigerians and the rest of the world were outraged that it took President Jonathan over two weeks to call the then state chief executive.
“I vividly recall that the current President, Bola Tinubu, led a team of vocal critics who called for President Jonathan’s immediate resignation over the incident, citing his delay in calling the state governor,” Mr Obi said.
“That call for immediate resignation should actually be the case in this (Oyo abduction) matter.”
The former governor expressed shock that about 13 school abductions had taken place under Mr Tinubu’s administration, but the president “has not contacted” governors of the affected states after more than seven weeks.
“This is outrageous. I suspect the same may also have been the case in other school kidnapping incidents.
“I cannot imagine any issue more important than the lives of our kidnapped children, their teachers, and the many other Nigerians being held captive across the country,” he stated.
READ ALSO: Oyo Abductions: “What God told me about kidnapped pupils, teachers” – Adeboye
“It is now an indisputable fact that governance has completely collapsed under this administration.”
Not the first time
In June, Mr Obi asked Mr Tinubu to resign from office due to worsening security challenges in Nigeria.
But Bayo Onanuga, a presidential spokesperson, described the call as misplaced and based on what he called a selective interpretation of developments in Nigeria since 2023.
Mr Onanuga said Mr Tinubu inherited longstanding challenges but has recorded measurable progress through intensified military operations and increased investments in national security infrastructure.
He said hundreds of kidnapped victims had been rescued, while more than 15,000 terrorists had been neutralised through sustained operations conducted across various parts of the country.
“It is laughable that Obi, who, as governor, was a colossal failure, unable to secure lives and property in his small state of Anambra, is now calling for President Tinubu’s resignation over security breaches in some parts of the country,” he said.
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