‘Resign Now’ – Peter Obi Challenges Tinubu, Says President Ignored Makinde After Oyo School Abduction

The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has asked President Bola Tinubu to resign or forgo a second-term bid over what he described as the administration’s failure to address insecurity and its handling of the abduction of schoolchildren in Oyo State.

Naijaonpoint reports that Obi made the demand in a statement released on Monday.

He accused President Tinubu of lacking compassion and capacity in responding to the country’s worsening security situation, saying the government’s handling of the Oyo schoolchildren’s abduction had left residents feeling “bitter and abandoned.”

He said, “The ultimate cost of uncompassionate leadership, as evident in the country today, is turning citizens’ frustration into deep, volatile resentment. It is even more traumatising when the leader presiding over that collapse demonstrates clear incapacity and a lack of compassion.”

According to Obi, more than 50 days after the abduction, there had been no tangible effort towards rescuing the victims.

“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 said.

The former Anambra State governor disclosed that he had previously spoken publicly about the incident twice, including appealing directly to the kidnappers to release the children. He added that he also called the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, twice to express solidarity.

Obi revealed that on July 3, he travelled to Ibadan with Pat Utomi to meet Makinde after more than 50 days had passed without the children being rescued.

According to him, they held a two-hour meeting with the Governor, focused on insecurity and his experience in tackling security challenges while serving as governor of Anambra State.

He recalled that former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan would personally contact state governors whenever major security incidents occurred.

Obi, however, claimed he was surprised to learn that Makinde had not received any call from President Tinubu over the Oyo incident.

“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 said.

Drawing a comparison with the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping, Obi said the incident attracted widespread local and international attention during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

He noted that although Jonathan faced criticism for taking more than two weeks to contact the then state governor, security agencies had provided almost daily updates on rescue efforts.

Obi further alleged that Tinubu was among those who criticised Jonathan at the time and called for his resignation over the delayed response.

“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.

The former Labour Party presidential candidate also claimed that more than 13 school kidnappings had occurred under Tinubu’s administration, alleging that the President might have failed to contact affected governors following such incidents.

“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,” Obi said.

He described the situation as reflecting “a total lack of capacity and compassion, compounded by glaring insensitivity.”

Obi added, “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.”

He added that his call is patriotic, not political.