Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has criticised President Bola Tinubu for “failing to call” Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo state, over the abduction of schoolchildren in Ogbomoso.
In a statement on Monday, Obi said he was shocked to learn that Tinubu had not spoken with Makinde more than 50 days after gunmen abducted pupils and teachers in Ogbomoso, describing the development as “evidence of a worsening leadership crisis” in the country.
Obi said he travelled to Ibadan on Friday with Pat Utomi, economist and political activist, to express solidarity with Makinde over the abduction, noting that the prolonged captivity of the victims had become a national tragedy.
According to him, it was during the meeting that he discovered the president had not reached out to the Oyo governor over the incident.
“During our two-hour meeting, I shared my experience in addressing insecurity as Governor of Anambra State. I recalled how President Olusegun Obasanjo, and later Presidents Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, would personally call us several times whenever we faced major security challenges,” Obi said.
“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.”
The former Anambra governor said the president’s response contrasted sharply with the outrage that followed the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Obi recalled that Tinubu was among those who strongly criticised Jonathan at the time for delaying his response to the crisis.
“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,” he said.
“Today, under President Tinubu, there have been more than 13 school kidnappings, yet the President has found it difficult to call the affected state’s chief executive after more than 50 days (over seven weeks). This is outrageous.”
Obi said the government’s handling of insecurity had left many Nigerians feeling abandoned, arguing that the continued abduction of schoolchildren and other citizens reflected a deeper failure of governance.
“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 added.
“The situation reflects a total lack of capacity and compassion, compounded by glaring insensitivity.”
Obi said the president should either resign or decline to seek another term in office if he could not provide the leadership required to address the country’s security challenges.
“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,” Obi said.