The Presidency has dismissed the call by 2027 presidential candidate Peter Obi for President Bola Tinubu to resign, describing the demand as “childish and hollow” and an attempt to distract from the administration’s achievements.
This follows Obi’s earlier call for President Tinubu to resign his position following the resignation of UK Prime Minister on Monday.
In a statement issued by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency faulted Obi’s comparison of Nigeria’s political system with that of the United Kingdom.
According to Onanuga, Obi’s argument ignored Nigeria’s constitutional framework. “His view is also simplistic, as is often the case anytime he opens his mouth. Obi forgets our country does not run a parliamentary system of government like the UK. We run a presidential system, with the president elected to a fixed 4-year term,” the statement said .
The presidential aide argued that recent electoral victories recorded by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State and several senatorial elections demonstrated continued public support for Tinubu and his administratio.
“The election results, some early referendum of sorts, show that President Tinubu and his party are popular with Nigerians,” Onanuga stated .
He urged Obi to await the 2027 presidential election if he wished to test public opinion on the administration’s performance, describing his use of social media to demand the President’s resignation as “off the mark and anti-democratic”.
Defending the administration’s handling of security challenges, the Presidency said the government inherited deep-rooted insecurity problems but had recorded notable successes.
Onanuga stated that hundreds of kidnapped victims had been rescued, over 15,000 terrorists neutralised, and security operations intensified across the country .
The statement also criticised Obi’s record as governor of Anambra State, claiming he lacked the credentials to question the administration’s security efforts. “It is laughable that Obi, who as governor was a colossal failure, unable to secure lives and property in his small state of Anambra, is now the one calling for President Tinubu’s resignation over security breaches in some parts of the country,” the statement said .
On the economy, Onanuga rejected Obi’s assessment of worsening conditions, highlighting what he described as measurable improvements under Tinubu’s leadership. According to the statement, Nigeria’s economy has posted positive GDP growth every quarter since 2023, foreign reserves have hit over $50 billion, and oil production has risen from less than one million barrels per day to about 1.8 million barrels .
The statement also touted infrastructure achievements, including the Lagos-Calabar and Sokoto-Badagry superhighways, and social interventions such as interest-free student loans for close to two million tertiary students.
Obi had earlier called on President Tinubu to resign in a post on X, citing worsening economic conditions, insecurity and governance challenges. He drew parallels with the UK, where Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his planned resignation amid public dissatisfaction over economic challenges .
He also recalled that before the 2015 elections, Tinubu had repeatedly called on former President Goodluck Jonathan to resign over insecurity and economic hardship .
“Electricity supply remains unreliable, insecurity has intensified in many parts of the country, kidnappings continue unabated and economic hardship has deepened,” Obi stated .
“Peter Obi’s call for President Tinubu’s resignation is childish and hollow. It is not a call to hold the leader accountable. It is merely a political grandstand and an unworthy distraction,” Onanuga said.
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