Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 election, Peter Obi, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to either resign from office or abandon any plans to seek re-election next year, citing what he described as a worsening security crisis across the country and a glaring failure of leadership in handling the abduction of schoolchildren in Oyo State. In a statement released on Monday, 6 July 2026, through his spokesman Idris Zekeri, Obi expressed deep concern over the continued captivity of 39 schoolchildren and seven teachers abducted from a school in Oyo State on 15 May 2026, noting that more than 50 days had passed without what he termed "a significant gesture of solidarity" from the President to Governor Seyi Makinde.
The former Anambra State governor, who was the Labour Party's presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, argued that the President's handling of national security and governance had adversely affected citizens' welfare and exposed growing concerns about incompetence and lack of empathy at the highest level of government. Obi revealed that he had travelled to Ibadan on 3 July 2026 alongside political economist Professor Pat Utomi to meet with Governor Makinde, during which he was allegedly informed that President Tinubu had not contacted the Oyo State governor even once since the abduction occurred. "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," Obi said. He argued that previous presidents, including Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, had regularly reached out to state governors during major security emergencies.
Drawing a pointed comparison with the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls' abduction, Obi recalled that Tinubu—then an opposition leader—had been among the most vocal critics of former President Goodluck Jonathan, demanding his immediate resignation after Jonathan took 19 days to contact the then Governor of Borno State. Obi argued that under the current administration, more than 13 school kidnappings had occurred, yet there had been little visible presidential engagement with affected communities and state governments. "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," Obi said. He insisted that the continued abductions and worsening insecurity across the country demonstrated a lack of capacity and compassion on the part of the Federal Government.
The Oyo State abduction, which occurred on 15 May 2026, has become a symbol of the security crisis that has gripped Nigeria's North-West and South-West regions. The victims—pupils and teachers from a school in the state—remain in captivity despite ongoing rescue operations, and their continued detention has sparked widespread outrage and protests. Obi said he had publicly commented on the incident twice, including appealing directly to the kidnappers to release the children, and had spoken with Governor Makinde twice to express solidarity. He argued that the prolonged delay in rescuing the victims reflected a failure of leadership and governance, adding that "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".
The opposition leader's call came amid a broader deterioration of security across Nigeria's northern and central regions. Just days before his statement, bandits killed at least nine farmers and kidnapped several others in a raid on a village in Kaduna State's Birnin Gwari district, in what security sources described as a retaliatory assault following the killing of a bandit during a failed robbery attempt. Weeks into the annual rainy season, criminal gangs—kidnappers for ransom and cattle thieves known locally as "bandits"—have stepped up attacks on farming communities that fail to pay the levies they impose. The Senate has also called on state governments to do more to complement federal efforts in combating kidnapping and banditry, as criminals continue to target schools and local communities with increasing daring.
Obi's statement also referenced the broader economic and governance failures that he said had reinforced his position. He had earlier renewed his call for Tinubu's resignation following a disclosure by the International Monetary Fund that approximately ₦8.83 trillion in government spending in 2025 went unrecorded in the national budget. He described the development as evidence of what he termed "grand corruption" and argued that it further demonstrated the administration's incompetence and failure to fulfil campaign promises. However, in his Monday statement, Obi emphasised that his latest appeal was motivated not by politics but by patriotism, insisting that "a New Nigeria is Possible".
The Presidency has not issued an official response to Obi's latest call, but previous reactions from the Tinubu administration have dismissed similar demands as politically motivated and lacking in substance. The Federal Government has maintained that security agencies are working tirelessly to rescue the Oyo schoolchildren and other abducted victims, and has urged the public not to politicise the tragedy. However, for Obi and a growing number of Nigerians, the continued captivity of innocent children and the persistent violence across the country have become intolerable symbols of a leadership that has failed to protect its citizens. "The ultimate cost of uncompassionate leadership, as evident in the country today, is turning citizens' frustration into deep, volatile resentment," Obi said. He concluded by urging the President to either resign or, at the very least, abstain from seeking re-election "for the sake of our dear country". As the 2027 election season gathers momentum, the debate over Tinubu's fitness for office is likely to intensify, with opposition figures increasingly framing the security crisis as the defining failure of his administration.
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