Former Governor of Anambra state and Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate in the 2027 election, Peter Obi, on Monday urged President Bola Tinubu to take a cue from British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and step down from office, arguing that the current administration has failed to meet Nigerians’ expectations amid worsening economic and social conditions.
But the Presidency swiftly dismissed Obi’s remarks, describing the call for Tinubu’s resignation as childish, misplaced and undemocratic, insisting that the president was elected through a constitutional process and would continue to pursue his mandate while addressing the country’s economic and governance challenges.
The heated exchange took place as UK Prime Minister, Starmer, on Monday stepped down as leader of the governing Labour Party, with Andy Burnham, the party’s most popular politician, saying he would seek the prime minister’s job and securing the support of a potential rival.
Reacting to the announcement of the British prime minister’s resignation, Obi, in a tweet titled “Owning Up to Leadership Failures and Political Responsibility”, advised Tinubu to emulate the British PM and save the country from the worsening economic situation, having failed to fulfil his electoral promises.
He argued that in the past, Tinubu had also called on a Nigerian leader, specifically Goodluck Jonathan, to quit when it appeared he wasn’t measuring up with the people’s expectations, urging the incumbent President to toe the path of honour.
He wrote: “This morning (on Monday ), I listened to the British Prime Minister’s speech announcing his planned resignation in July. As a keen observer of global politics, my primary interest lies in examining what successful nations do right and the structural factors that cause others to lag or struggle with governance and development.
“The Prime Minister’s planned resignation comes amid mounting public frustration over a stagnant economy, a worsening cost-of-living crisis, and a perceived failure to honour key campaign pledges.
“Looking inward in our dear country, we can recall our own situation. Before 2015, our President on several occasions championed the call for the then President Goodluck Jonathan to resign over economic hardship and insecurity affecting Nigerians.
‘’During the Chibok school kidnapping incident, he demanded the immediate resignation of President Jonathan, arguing that the government had failed in its most fundamental duty of protecting lives,” Obi stated.
The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election specifically attacked Tinubu for failing to make good his pledge to provide reliable electricity for Nigerians, reminding him of having told Nigerians not to vote him in for a second term if he failed on the basis of that promise.
“During the 2023 election campaign, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu made several promises, including improved electricity supply. He also challenged the electorate not to vote for him for a second term if he failed to deliver on those commitments—particularly in providing stable power, fighting corruption, and improving the welfare of Nigerians.”
However, Obi argued that at present, these conditions have worsened, stressing that electricity supply remains unreliable, insecurity has intensified in many areas, including kidnappings, and economic hardship has deepened rather than eased.
“Similar concerns are reflected across other critical sectors such as security, infrastructure, transportation, and anti-corruption efforts, all of which have regressed. We are in the worst possible condition.
“I, therefore, join Nigerians of goodwill in calling for the resignation of the President over monumental failure in governance. Such a gesture would help enthrone a political culture rooted in accountability and responsibility, rather than further entrenching impunity,” he emphasised.
According to Obi, this would also send a powerful message that public office is a sacred trust, not an entitlement, and help build a society in which future leaders understand that failure carries consequences.
‘’Only by ending the culture of impunity can we secure a better future for the society our children will inherit in a New Nigeria that is possible,” he maintained.
But the Presidency on Monday formally reacted to Obi’s call on Tinubu to emulate British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and resign forthwith from office.
Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement described Obi’s call for Tinubu’s resignation as childish, misplaced, undemocratic and unnecessary distraction.
He said: “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 just hours after President Tinubu’s party recorded resounding victories in the weekend polls.”
According to the Presidency, Obi’s latest comments calling for Tinubu’s resignation, based on a comparison with the British Prime Minister’s voluntary exit, are not only misplaced but also reflect a selective and distorted view of It stated that Obi’s comparison is not based on facts saying while Nigeria does not run a parliamentary system like the United Kingdom the electorate are passing a vote of confidence on the Tinubu government going by the resounding victory recorded by the ruling All Progressives Congress in all the off season elections held in some states last Saturday.
“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 four-year term. The people of Ekiti State and the Senatorial constituents in Nasarawa, Enugu, Ondo, and Rivers have just delivered a resounding victory for President Tinubu and his party.
“ The election results, some early referendum of sorts, show that President Tinubu and his party are popular with Nigerians. This should be more concerning for Peter Obi and his new Special Purpose Vehicle, NDC, as we move towards the January 2027 election.
“Obi should wait until the presidential election to know what the people think of Tinubu’s government. Moving to use X to harangue the President out of office is off the mark and anti-democratic.
The Presidency was also quick to explain that the President upon assuming office in May, 2023 inherited a country not in the best shape but had since taken steps to move the nation forward especially as regards security challenges.
“It is important to note that President Tinubu did not inherit a country in perfect shape. The security challenges we face today are longstanding and deeply rooted. Yet under President Tinubu’s leadership, Nigeria has made significant, measurable progress. Hundreds of people have been rescued from captivity, including high-profile operations in Borno and the Northwest.
“Our gallant troops have neutralised terrorist kingpins, sometimes with the help of our foreign allies. Over 15,000 terrorists have been taken off the streets and forests, and security operations have intensified nationwide. President Tinubu has not only sustained but also expanded investments in security by deploying advanced technologies and drones, and by appointing a Special Adviser on Homeland Security to ensure a holistic approach.
“These actions demonstrate commitment, not failure. It is laughable that Obi, who, as governor, was a colossal failure, unable to secure lives and property in his small state of Anambra, as documented by his successor, Willie Obiano, is now the one calling for President Tinubu’s resignation over security breaches in some parts of the country.
On the economic front, the Presidency posited that Obi’s depiction of decline and his verdict that “we are in the worst possible condition” ignore verifiable data and global plaudits for President Tinubu’s economic and social policies.
It said: “President Tinubu inherited what another successor of Peter Obi described as ‘a dead horse economy’. When he came on board in May 2023, President Tinubu introduced bold, courageous policies that his predecessors had shied away from. Since then, the Nigerian economy has posted positive GDP growth every quarter, surpassing the global average.
“Trade surpluses have been recorded consistently, and foreign reserves have hit new highs—over $50 billion. Oil production has risen from less than one million barrels per day to about 1.8 million, reversing years of decline. Federation revenue is projected to hit over N30 trillion this year, far above the 2022 level of N7.7 trillion. By May this year, N15.7 trillion has already been collected, more than twice the entire revenue collected in 2022.
“State governments now have more resources to pursue development projects in education, infrastructure, health care, housing, and so on. The stock market has soared, with the All-Share Index rising from 50,000 to over 250,000, creating wealth for about 6 million Nigerian investors. The Naira-to-dollar exchange rate has been stable. Foreign Direct and Portfolio Investments are at record highs, reflecting renewed investor confidence, especially in the oil and gas sector.
According to the Presidency, Tinubu has also set records in infrastructure delivery, building concrete roads that will last 100 years or more across all the country’s geo-political zones and actualising the Lagos-Calabar and Sokoto-Badagry superhighways, roads dreamt of for decades.
The release further shed more light on the achievements of the President in the last three year. It said: “Unlike leaders before him, President Tinubu has proven not only to be a reform-minded and courageous leader but also an innovator, for instance, replacing expensive petrol and diesel with CNG and offering close to two million Nigerian tertiary students interest-free loans to pursue their education.
“Are conditions worsening in our country when, in three years of Tinubu’s leadership, we have recorded no disruption of the academic calendar by trade unions such as ASUU or NASU? That is one of President Tinubu’s campaign promises to our students: a four-year programme will be a four-year programme. It has been a promise well kept, which Obi, in his penchant for bad news, has never sung about and will never acknowledge.”
Concerning Tinubu’s campaign promises on power supply, the Presidency said it was misleading for Peter Obi to parrot the claim that candidate Tinubu guaranteed 24-hour electricity for all.
It stated that what he actually said, on that occasion in Lagos and which Obi and his followers have consistently misquoted, for the sake of mischief, was: “Whichever way, by all means necessary, you will have electricity, and you will not pay for estimated bills anymore. A promise made will be a promise kept. If I don’t keep the promise and I come for a second term, don’t vote for me—unless I give you adequate reasons why I couldn’t deliver.”
It added: “The first policy President Tinubu implemented upon taking office was to sign the Electricity Act, which enables states to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity independently of the centralised grid system.
“To end the fraudulent estimated billing, his administration has rolled out millions of prepaid meters and plans to install seven million more. Power generation is increasing. The government has intensified its provision of off-grid solar power to schools, hospitals, and markets in many parts of the country. The real challenge remains transmission infrastructure and sustainable pricing, which are now being addressed, to attract fresh investment into the sector.
“No one denies that Nigeria has challenges, especially regarding the high cost of living. But any honest politician will agree this is a global problem resulting from the tensions in the Middle East. Just recently, as inflation was receding in Nigeria, a disruption to the global economy occurred when America and Israel attacked Iran, and Iran responded by closing the Strait of Hormuz, creating disruption in the global supply system and high prices of many commodities, including crude oil.
“Leadership is about determination to confront the challenges facing our country and the economy. President Tinubu focuses on solutions, not rhetoric—investing in reforms, stabilising the economy, improving security, and laying the groundwork for a more prosperous Nigeria. He is not waiting to learn from Bangladesh, Rwanda or Egypt. He has a team of thinkers and doers. And Nigeria, under him, has been an exemplar for other nations to copy.
“True leadership means staying the course, learning, adapting, and delivering results. President Tinubu has shown he is up to the task, and Nigeria is on the path to progress.
‘With his puerile tweet on X, we are now convinced that Peter Obi lives in his self-constructed echo chambers, where he reels off lie after lie to himself and believes his self-created reality about the situation in Nigeria. We sympathisewith him. That reality he fantasises about is mostly a figment of his imagination.”
Earlier, Starmer had bowed to a mutiny inside his Labour Party and paved the way for Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, to likely become the country’s next leader.
The UK leader said that he would remain as prime minister until a new party leader is selected, by September, rather than fight to remain in the job he won almost two years ago. His decision means that Britain will have its seventh prime minister in a decade, extending a period of political turmoil for the country since it voted to leave the European Union in 2016.
“Every decision I’ve taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party,” Starmer said in front of No. 10 Downing Street, his voice breaking with emotion as he thanked his wife for being “a rock by my side.”
Burnham is a popular Labour politician whose resounding victory last week in a special election energised his bid to become prime minister. He said on social media on Monday that he would formally seek to replace Mr. Starmer, calling the transition “a positive process of renewal for our party and our country,” the New York Times reported.
Moments later, Burnham received the endorsement of Wes Streeting, a former health secretary and another potential challenger in Labour’s leadership race — meaning the party will most likely avoid a bruising and divisive contest. “We could spend the summer exaggerating small differences, or we can roll up our sleeves and help him to deliver the change our party and our country needs,” Streeting wrote in a statement, referring to Mr. Burnham.
Starmer became prime minister in 2024 when Labour won a large parliamentary majority and ended 14 years of Conservative Party government. But Labour earned a record-low vote share in that election, prompting one analyst to call the victory a “loveless landslide.”
Starmer’s standing was damaged this year by revelations about his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States despite his ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But it was Labour’s devastating losses in local elections in May that were the breaking point for many in the party.
Part of his resignation letter read: “ Six years ago, I inherited a Labour Party that was politically, financially, and morally bankrupt. I was told time and time again that my party was finished, that we were consigned to history, that a majority at the general election – let alone a landslide majority – was impossible.
“But we proved those people wrong because we changed our party, ripping out the poison of antisemitism, restoring trust on the economy, defence, and national security, and becoming a party that once again stood proudly with, not against, our national flag.
“The hard work of change was with a singular purpose: not power for power’s sake, but to change Britain for the better. To build a fairer country, with dignity and respect, where everyone is seen and everyone is valued. Wealth and opportunity for all, not just the privileged few.
“And look at what we’ve achieved in just two years: an economy that is stronger, growing faster than our peers; wages rising faster than inflation in every single month since we came to power; investment secured; infrastructure being built; an end to austerity; with the fastest fall in NHS waiting lists for 17 years; the biggest improvement in rights for workers and renters in a generation; the biggest uplift in defence spending since the Cold War; small boat crossings falling; asylum hotels closing; protecting young people from social media; and half a million children being lifted out of poverty because of the choices that I made.
“Our reputation in the world restored, with Britain once again standing up for decency, respect, and the rule of law. Securing trade deals, standing with Ukraine, standing up for our values, and rebuilding our relationship with our allies in Europe.”
However, the outgoing prime minister stated that the question being asked now is not who was best placed to change the Labour Party to take power and to begin the vital work of improving lives for millions of people, but whether he’s best placed to lead the party into the next general election.
“I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace,” he stressed. – Arise News.
