Peter Obi has launched a scathing attack on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, accusing him of complete detachment from national tragedies and a lack of compassion for grieving families across Nigeria. The Labour Party presidential hopeful made the remarks during a live broadcast on July 7, 2025, igniting political and social outrage.
Obi questioned why Tinubu was celebrating the commissioning of a bus terminal in Abuja on the same day over 20 Nigerian soldiers were killed in a violent ambush in Niger State. “That should have been a day of national mourning, not celebration,” Obi said. “From Abuja to Niger is just 15 minutes by air. He could’ve gone. He didn’t. That’s not leadership.”
The former Anambra State governor also blasted the president for failing to visit families affected by the June 2025 Niger flood disaster, which reportedly left over 200 people dead and 600 missing. The incident, one of Nigeria’s worst flooding events in a decade, submerged 14 communities and displaced more than 15,000 residents.
Critics have pointed out that more than three weeks after the flood, President Tinubu has yet to make a physical appearance or release a detailed relief plan for the region. “What kind of leader ignores that kind of pain?” Obi asked. “We’ve normalized abandonment in this country. I will never accept that.”
Obi’s comments have sparked massive reactions across social media and political circles, with many Nigerians expressing frustration at the government’s perceived apathy towards human life. Videos of the ambushed soldiers’ caskets, some carried by their comrades in tears, circulated widely in June, further intensifying public anger.
The former vice-presidential candidate stressed that Nigeria’s problem is not lack of resources but a lack of human empathy and ethical leadership. “A nation that mourns its dead with silence is a nation in moral decline,” he said. “We can’t keep pretending everything is okay when our people are dying.”
Obi’s direct challenge to Tinubu is being hailed as one of the boldest yet in the countdown to the 2027 general elections. Many believe this tone will shape a new wave of issue-based campaigning—one that forces leadership to confront the real pain Nigerians are living with every day.
