Peter Obi Asks Tinubu to Resign Over Corruption Claims

Peter Obi asks Tinubu to resign, citing APC corruption, insecurity crisis and N34trn revenue leakages rocking Nigeria.

Peter Obi speaking at press briefing calling for President Bola Tinubu resignation over APC corruption allegations

Labour Party's 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has publicly asked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to resign.

Obi made the call in a post on X on Monday, June 22, pointing to the resignation of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as a model of political accountability. He said the Tinubu administration has recorded what he called failures in governance that warrant stepping aside.

The former Anambra governor described the government's inability to contain insecurity as a "monumental failure in governance," arguing that public office should be treated as a sacred trust, not an entitlement.

Bloodshed and 'demarketing' of Nigeria

In a separate message, Obi urged the President to urgently review his strategy on corruption and insecurity, warning that both are destroying lives and damaging Nigeria's image abroad.

"The regularity of bloodletting of innocent souls in our country has reduced the news value of human deaths," he said, listing attacks in Kano, Plateau, Kebbi, Borno and Katsina that happened in a single day.

He warned that the Federal Government's silence fuels a perception of indifference, adding that failure to tackle insecurity and systemic corruption amounts to "real demarketing" of the country.

N34 trillion leakages and debt burden

Obi's corruption allegation centred on public finance. Citing World Bank data, he said about ₦34 trillion in federation revenue failed to reach the Federation Account in three years.

He noted that while federation revenue rose to about ₦84 trillion, "a staggering 41 per cent — amounting to ₦34.44 trillion — never reached the Federation Account".

"This sum exceeds the combined ₦34 trillion earmarked for capital projects in the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Bills... it points to institutionalised corruption on a massive scale," Obi said.

He also accused the administration of "borrowing Nigeria into economic slavery," saying Tinubu disclosed Nigeria would spend about $11.6 billion on debt servicing in 2026.

Obi argued the figure is almost three times the combined 2026 budget for health (₦2.46trn), education (₦2.56trn) and poverty alleviation (₦865bn), which totals about ₦5.885 trillion.

Presidency fires back

The Presidency responded within hours. Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed Obi's demand as "childish" and a "distraction".

In a formal statement, Onanuga described the call as "childish, baseless and a needless distraction from national governance".

He faulted Obi's comparison with the UK parliamentary system, saying it misrepresented Nigeria's constitutional reality, and pointed to recent APC victories as evidence of continued public support.