Obi to Tinubu: Suspend your France retreat — insecurity spiralling out of control back home

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, has asked President Bola Tinubu to immediately return home to confront rising insecurity.

On April 2, Tinubu departed for France on a two-week “working visit”.

A statement from the presidency said during his stay in France, Tinubu “will appraise his administration’s midterm performance, assess key milestones and engage in strategic planning ahead of his administration’s second anniversary”.

During Tinubu’s stay in France, there has been a surge in killings and abductions by gunmen in several parts of the country, notably in Plateau and Benue states.

In a post on his X page on Wednesday, Obi asked the president to suspend his France retreat amid the worsening insecurity back home.

The former Anambra governor described Tinubu as a “retreating president” and said the nation is facing a wave of violent crimes without visible leadership.

“I am compelled at this time in our lives as a nation to call on our retreating President’s attention to the security challenges at home, which entails that he immediately suspend his ongoing retreat in a foreign land and come home to address the overwhelming security situation across the country,” he said.

Obi said his call became imperative following the “rising incidents of crimes and criminalities all over Nigeria with an apparent absence of governance”.

“In the 2 weeks you have been away, over 150 Nigerians have lost their lives to insecurity across Nigeria, especially in Plateau and Zamfara states,” he said.

The LP chieftain said the “repeated pipeline explosions in the Niger Delta further reflect a nation in distress”.

According to him, insecurity is intensifying across all regions — from renewed insurgency in the north-east to abductions and killings in the south-east.

“In the North East, Borno state leaders are bemoaning the return of insurgency with troops and civilians being killed randomly,” he said.

“In the South East, the story is the same: killings and abduction.

“Amid all these, the CEO of the troubling company called Nigeria is retreating in a faraway land in France from the Company’s headquarters.

“The primary duty of any government is securing the lives and property of its citizens and one wonders the type of retreat going on in another country where peace has been secured by their leaders while blood continues to flow in our country.

“The fight for a better Nigeria is not about individuals; it is about ensuring that every citizen can see, feel, and benefit from the policies and decisions of those in power.”