Resign or forget 2027, Obi tells Tinubu over Oyo schoolchildren abduction

Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has called on President Bola Tinubu to either resign from office or abandon any plan to seek re-election in 2027, accusing him of failing to demonstrate leadership following the abduction of schoolchildren and the killing of teachers in Oyo State.

Mr Obi made the call in a post on his X handle on Monday titled, “Worsening Leadership Crisis in the Country Now Evident.”

He alleged that more than 50 days after the incident, President Tinubu had neither contacted Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde to express sympathy nor discussed efforts to secure the release of the abducted pupils.

According to Mr Obi, the President’s response to the incident reflects a lack of compassion and leadership at a time when insecurity continues to worsen across the country.

“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 wrote.

Obi said he had publicly appealed twice to the kidnappers to release the children and had also spoken with Governor Makinde on two occasions to express solidarity, insisting that the incident was “a Nigerian tragedy” and not merely an Oyo State issue.

“Since this unfortunate incident, I have spoken publicly about it twice, including appealing directly to the kidnappers to release the children. I also called the governor twice to assure him of my solidarity, understanding that this issue is not just an Oyo problem but a Nigerian tragedy,” he said.

The former Anambra State governor disclosed that he visited Ibadan on Friday, alongside economist Pat Utomi, where they met with Governor Makinde to discuss the security situation.

He said he shared his experience in tackling insecurity while serving as governor of Anambra State, recalling that former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan regularly reached out to state governors whenever major security incidents occurred.

Obi said he was surprised to learn from Makinde that the Oyo governor had not received any phone call from President Tinubu since the abduction occurred.

“But, to my utmost shock, I discovered that, contrary to my assumption that they had been in regular communication over the matter, Governor Seyi Makinde had not received a single call from President Bola Tinubu,” he wrote.

Drawing a comparison with the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls abduction, Obi recalled that Tinubu was among those who criticised then-President Goodluck Jonathan for delaying contact with 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 the incident, citing his delay in calling the state governor. That call for immediate resignation should actually be the case in this matter,” he said.

Mr Obi further alleged that more than 13 school kidnappings had occurred since Tinubu assumed office and questioned why the President had not personally engaged the governor of the affected state more than seven weeks after the latest abduction.

“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 stated.

He concluded by urging the President to either step down or forgo any ambition to seek a second term.

“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,” Mr Obi said.