Calamity Befalling Nigeria – Peter Obi Knocks Tinubu Over Trip to Europe
The 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu for embarking on a three-week vacation in Europe amid prevailing economic hardship, insecurity and other challenges confronting Nigerians.
Obi said the president’s decision to leave the country at a time when Nigerians were struggling with food and transportation costs, insecurity and limited access to basic services reflected misplaced priorities in governance.
The former Anambra State governor stated this in a statement posted on his social media handles on Tuesday.
According to him, Nigeria is currently facing a deepening crisis, with insecurity disrupting communities and preventing thousands of children from accessing education.
He cited the reported abduction of about 600 Nigerians, predominantly women, children and elderly persons, during Juma’at prayers in Niger State as an indication of the gravity of the security situation facing the country.
“Yet, at this critical moment, the President has left the country for another holiday,” Obi said.
He also raised concerns over alleged government spending on presidential travels, claiming that expenditure on presidential trips and related travel expenses between June 2023 and April 2026 amounted to about N37.64 billion, while Tinubu reportedly spent approximately 261 days outside Nigeria during the period.
Obi contrasted the alleged travel expenditure with funding for the health sector, claiming that only N36 million was released to the Federal Ministry of Health in 2025 despite a capital allocation of N218 billion.
“This is the calamity befalling our country today,” he declared.
The NDC presidential candidate argued that a government spending billions of naira on presidential travel while critical sectors allegedly remain underfunded should reconsider its priorities.
He said leadership required the ability to identify the most pressing needs of citizens and respond accordingly.
“When citizens cannot feed their families, move safely, access healthcare, send their children to school, or sleep peacefully in their homes, the President should be more concerned about fixing the country than repeatedly leaving it,” Obi said.
He, however, clarified that his criticism was not based on the principle that a president should never travel or take a vacation, but on what he described as the timing and circumstances surrounding Tinubu’s latest trip.
Obi advocated increased domestic tourism by political leaders, celebrities, businesspeople and ordinary Nigerians, urging Tinubu to use his position to promote Nigeria’s tourism potential.
He listed Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Cross River, Bauchi and Ebonyi among destinations he said the President could visit while promoting domestic tourism.
According to him, increased domestic tourism could create jobs and stimulate sectors including hospitality, transportation, agriculture, entertainment, crafts and small businesses.
“Tourism creates jobs. It supports hospitality, transportation, agriculture, entertainment, crafts, and small businesses. It brings investment and foreign exchange and allows communities to benefit directly from their natural and cultural assets,” he said.
Obi added that Nigeria should stop “exporting our wealth and importing our pleasures” while its domestic economic and tourism potential remained largely untapped.
He further linked his criticism to the partnership between himself and his running mate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, saying the alliance would provide a different approach to leadership.
“We deserve leadership that puts Nigeria first; leadership that cares and plans for a better Nigeria. That is the kind of leadership that the partnership between H.E. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and me will bring,” he said.
Politics Nigeria recalls that President Tinubu on Sunday departed Abuja for Europe to begin a three-week vacation as part of his annual leave.
His first destination is London, United Kingdom, according to a statement issued on Sunday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Onanuga said the President would return to Nigeria at the end of the working vacation and resume his official activities ahead of the 2027 general elections.
