Peter Obi blast Tinubu for failing to contact Oyo State governor over school children abduction

Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s handling of the abduction of schoolchildren and teachers in Oyo State, revealing that Governor Seyi Makinde told him he had not received a single phone call from the President more than 50 days after the incident.

In a statement titled “Worsening Leadership Crisis in the Country Now Evident,” Obi said he visited Ibadan alongside Prof. Pat Utomi to express solidarity with the governor and discuss the prolonged captivity of the victims.

According to Obi, he had assumed the President had been in regular contact with Makinde over the tragedy but was shocked to discover otherwise.

“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.”

Obi recalled that during his time as governor of Anambra State, former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan personally contacted governors whenever major security incidents occurred.

Oyo A.bduction: Makinde hasn’t received a call from Tinubu – Peter Obi

He also referenced the Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction under Jonathan’s administration, noting that Tinubu was among those who strongly criticised the former president for delaying his call to the affected governor.

“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 lamented that more than 13 school kidnappings had occurred under the current administration, describing the situation as evidence of a collapse in governance.

He concluded by calling on President Tinubu to either resign or refrain from seeking re-election, insisting that the appeal was driven by patriotism rather than politics.

“This call is patriotic, not political. A new Nigeria is POssible. -PO”