Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has called on President Bola Tinubu to either resign or abandon plans for a 2027 re-election bid, citing the prolonged captivity of abducted Oyo schoolchildren and what he described as a clear failure of leadership, compassion and governance capacity.
Peter Obi has had enough — and this time, he is not mincing words.
The former Labour Party presidential candidate and NDC flagbearer issued his starkest political ultimatum yet on Monday, calling on President Bola Tinubu to either resign from office or shelve any ambitions for a second term in 2027, citing the government’s handling of Nigeria’s worsening insecurity crisis as evidence of fundamental leadership failure.
The trigger was a visit to Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, where Obi said he was shocked to learn that President Tinubu had allegedly made no direct contact with the governor over the abduction of schoolchildren in the state — now stretching beyond 50 days.
“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,” Obi said.
The former Anambra governor drew a pointed historical comparison, noting that past presidents — Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan — routinely reached out to state governors during major security emergencies. He also turned the 2014 Chibok moment back on Tinubu, reminding Nigerians that the current president was among those who publicly criticised Jonathan’s response to the Boko Haram abductions.
“It is even more traumatising when the leader presiding over that collapse demonstrates clear incapacity and a lack of compassion,” Obi stated.
He argued that multiple school kidnappings have occurred under the Tinubu administration with minimal visible presidential engagement, and that citizens’ frustration was hardening into what he described as “deep, volatile resentment.”
For Obi, the conclusion is straightforward: a president unable or unwilling to demonstrate compassion and capacity during a national security crisis has forfeited his moral right to continue in office or seek another mandate.
The statement represents Obi’s most direct political challenge to the Tinubu administration to date.
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