Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has strongly criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for spending excessive time abroad, while Nigeria continues to face serious challenges.
Obi’s comments came after reports that Tinubu departed for a 12-day overseas trip, starting with Dubai, then attending the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) in Japan from August 20 to 22, and subsequently traveling to Brazil for trade talks.
The presidency has not yet announced when the President will return.
In a statement posted on X, titled “Again, Our President Moves as the Nation Bleeds,” Obi revealed that Tinubu has spent over 200 days out of his 806 days in office away from Nigeria.
“Mr. President is not a tourist. He is the Chief Executive of a troubled nation and his duty is here, not in endless foreign conferences that add little or no value to our people,” Obi said.
The former governor of Anambra State questioned the necessity of the current trip, pointing out that it comes just weeks after Tinubu’s previous visit to Brazil.
Obi also criticised the President’s prolonged stays abroad, including a week-long trip to St. Lucia ahead of the BRICS Summit, describing it as excessive.
“Actual BRICS leaders arrived just a day or two before the summit. Why was our President gone so long?” Obi asked.
He argued that the ongoing trip “could have been wrapped up in five days.”
Highlighting Nigeria’s worsening insecurity, economic difficulties, and hunger crisis, Obi urged Tinubu to focus on addressing domestic issues rather than prioritising foreign travel.
“Nigerians understand that not all problems can be fixed overnight. But they expect their leader to be present, engaged, and fully committed. We are a country on fire. The President must act like the firefighter-in-chief, not a globe-trotting dignitary,” Obi stressed.
He recommended that instead of frequent international trips, Tinubu should visit Nigeria’s most affected states, engage directly with communities in distress, and work urgently to find solutions to their challenges.
