Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate and former Anambra State governor, has sharply criticized President Bola Tinubu’s planned trip to Saint Lucia and Brazil for the BRICS summit, calling it a grave misstep given Nigeria’s dire economic hardship and rampant insecurity.
In a strongly worded statement posted on 𝕏 on Saturday, June 28, 2025, Obi argued that the president’s travel plans reflect a misplaced focus on political optics and elite interests over the urgent needs of Nigerians.
Obi expressed disbelief at the government’s priorities, stating, “I am struggling to understand what is happening to governance in this country.” He highlighted the severe challenges facing Nigeria, including widespread hunger, escalating insecurity, and poor governance delivery over the past two years. “Nigeria has lost more people to criminality than a country at war,” Obi noted, emphasizing that the nation ranks among the world’s most insecure places, with many citizens unsure of their next meal.
The presidency announced that Tinubu would depart Nigeria on June 28, 2025, for Saint Lucia, a Caribbean nation, for a mix of official engagements and personal leisure. According to Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, Tinubu’s visit includes two days of official activities on June 30 and July 1, with the remainder designated as a personal vacation. Obi expressed shock at the news, initially dismissing it as untrue, given Tinubu’s recent holiday in Lagos. “I didn’t want to believe that anybody in a position of authority, more so the President, on whose table the buck stops, would contemplate a leisure trip at this time,” he said.
Obi contrasted Tinubu’s travel plans with the president’s response to recent tragedies in Nigeria. He pointed out Tinubu’s failure to visit Minna, Niger State, where over 200 lives were lost and more than 700 people remain missing due to a devastating flood. Similarly, Obi criticized Tinubu’s visit to Makurdi, Benue State, following the murder of over 200 people, describing it as a “political jamboree” rather than a genuine condolence visit. He noted that the president did not visit the affected village, and a public holiday was declared, with children lined up to receive him.
To underscore his point, Obi compared the geographic and demographic scales of the affected areas to Saint Lucia. Makurdi, with an area of 937.4 km² and a population of 489,839, is significantly larger than Saint Lucia’s 617 km² and 180,000 residents. Minna, at 6,789 km² with 532,000 people, dwarfs Saint Lucia further. Obi argued that Nigeria’s crises demand the president’s full attention, not leisure trips abroad.
Obi accused the Tinubu administration of insensitivity and indifference to the plight of Nigeria’s poor, prioritizing the wealthy and focusing on the 2027 elections rather than addressing poverty and insecurity. “This regime has repeatedly shown its lack of passion for the populace,” he said, urging leaders to reverse this trend and focus on uplifting citizens. He emphasized that Nigeria’s God-given resources belong to all, not just a privileged few, and called for an end to the current drift before it engulfs the nation.
Obi’s statement has sparked widespread discussion, with many Nigerians echoing his concerns about leadership priorities amid ongoing economic and security challenges. As Tinubu prepares for his international engagements, the criticism underscores the growing tension between the government’s actions and the urgent needs of the populace.
