Peter Obi, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate for 2027, has sharply criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, saying it epitomizes a deepening leadership crisis defined by incapacity and a lack of compassion.
In a statement issued Monday, July 6, 2026, Obi warned that uncaring leadership turns public frustration into volatile resentment and pointed to the nation’s deteriorating security as clear evidence of a government that has failed both in competence and empathy.
He specifically condemned the handling of the Oyo State school abductions, noting his shock that, more than 50 days after the children were taken, there has been no meaningful progress toward their release and that President Tinubu has not reached out to Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde.
Obi described the situation as a troubling symptom of wider governance collapse, calling for urgent, decisive action and visible leadership to bring the abducted students home and to restore public confidence.
Obi disclosed that he had spoken publicly about the abduction on two occasions, including appealing directly to the kidnappers to release the children. He also revealed that he had called Seyi Makinde twice to express solidarity, stressing that the incident was not merely an Oyo State problem but a national tragedy.
According to him, he travelled to Ibadan on July 3 alongside Pat Utomi to meet with Governor Makinde after more than seven weeks had passed without the rescue of the abducted children.
During the meeting, Obi 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 personally contacted state governors whenever serious security challenges arose.
Obi said he was surprised to learn from Governor Makinde that President Tinubu had not placed a single call to him regarding the abduction more than 50 days after the incident.
Drawing a comparison with the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping, Obi noted that although the administration of former President Jonathan was heavily criticised for taking over two weeks before contacting the Borno State governor, the current administration had gone more than seven weeks without similar engagement despite experiencing over 13 school kidnapping incidents.
He recalled that Tinubu was among the prominent critics who demanded Jonathan’s resignation over his handling of the Chibok crisis, arguing that the same standard should now apply to the current administration.
Obi described the situation as evidence that governance had “completely collapsed” under Tinubu’s administration, citing what he called a total lack of capacity, compassion, and sensitivity to the plight of Nigerians.
The former presidential candidate maintained that, given the prevailing insecurity and leadership failures, President Tinubu should either resign from office or, at the very least, decline to seek re-election in the interest of the country.
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