Peter Obi has launched a blistering attack on President Bola Tinubu’s handling of national security, revealing that Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde told him he has not received a single call from the president more than 50 days after schoolchildren were abducted in the state.
In a post on X titled “Worsening Leadership Crisis in the Country Now Evident,” the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2027 election accused the administration of lacking compassion, capacity, and basic presidential urgency.
“More than 50 days after the abduction of the schoolchildren without any tangible effort toward their rescue, the government and people of Oyo State should rightly feel bitter and abandoned,” Obi wrote.
He disclosed that he visited Ibadan on Friday, July 3, alongside economist Prof. Pat Utomi to meet with Makinde and discuss the security situation.
During that meeting, Obi shared his own experience managing insecurity as Anambra State governor recalling how former Presidents Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, and Jonathan routinely called governors whenever major security challenges erupted.
Then came the stunning revelation.
“To my utmost shock, I discovered that, contrary to my assumption that they had been in regular communication, Governor Seyi Makinde had not received a single call from President Bola Tinubu,” Obi said.
A Stinging Irony
Obi drew a sharp comparison to the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction, pointing out that Tinubu then an opposition leader was among those who demanded President Goodluck Jonathan’s immediate resignation for taking just weeks to call the affected governor.
“I vividly recall that the current president, Bola Tinubu, led a team of vocal critics who called for President Jonathan’s immediate resignation over that incident, citing his delay in calling the state governor,” Obi wrote.
“That call for IMMEDIATE RESIGNATION should actually be the case in this matter.”
He noted that under Tinubu’s watch, Nigeria has recorded more than 13 school kidnappings yet the president has failed to reach out to affected governors, even after more than 50 days.
“Today, there have been more than 13 school kidnappings, yet the President has found it difficult to call the affected state’s chief executive after more than 50 days. This is outrageous.”
‘Governance Has Completely Collapsed’
Obi did not mince words, declaring that the situation reflects a total breakdown of governance.
“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. It is now an indisputable fact that governance has completely collapsed under this administration.”
He concluded with a direct challenge to the president:
“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.”
