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| Obi and Tinubu |
Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately end his ongoing retreat in France and return to Nigeria to address the worsening insecurity ravaging the nation.
Obi criticized Tinubu’s absence amid a surge in violence, including killings and abductions, particularly in Plateau, Zamfara, Benue, and Borno states, as well as repeated pipeline explosions in the Niger Delta.
Tinubu left Nigeria on April 2 for a two-week “working visit” to France, which his image makers claimed, was aimed at reviewing his administration’s midterm performance and planning ahead of its second anniversary. However, during this period, over 150 Nigerians have reportedly lost their lives to insecurity, prompting Obi to describe the president akin to a “retreating CEO” abandoning his failing company.
In a statement posted today on, April 16, 2025, his official X (formerly Twitter) handle, Obi expressed grave concern over the increasing rate of violence and insecurity across the country, lamenting what he described as a “glaring absence of governance.”
“Within just two weeks of Mr President’s absence, over 150 Nigerians have lost their lives due to various security breaches, especially in Plateau and Zamfara States,” Obi wrote.
He also pointed to the resurgence of insurgency in the North-East, particularly in Borno State, where both civilians and security personnel have been reported killed. The situation, he added, is not different in the South-East, where killings and abductions continue unabated.
Obi condemned the repeated pipeline explosions in the Niger Delta, describing them as further evidence of a nation in deep crisis. “Amid these disturbing developments, the CEO of the troubled company called Nigeria is holding a retreat in faraway France, removed from the epicentre of national distress,” he said.
He questioned the wisdom of conducting a strategic retreat in a foreign land that enjoys relative peace and stability secured by its leadership, while back home, “blood continues to flow.”
Reaffirming that his comments were driven not by personal ambition but by a desire to see a better-governed nation, Obi urged the President to “suspend whatever he is doing in France and return home to take responsibility by addressing these disturbing issues.”
“The fight for a better Nigeria is not about individuals,” he added. “It is about ensuring that every citizen can see, feel, and benefit from the policies and decisions of those in power.”
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