‘We have indifferent president’: Obi slams Tinubu over new foreign trip

The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has lashed out at President Bola Tinubu over plans to embark on another trip abroad.

Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga had in a statement on Wednesday announced that Tinubu will depart Abuja on Thursday, August 14, 2025, for a two-nation trip to Japan and Brazil.

Analysts stated that with the latest foreign trip, the president would have travelled for over 200 out of the 806 days he has so far spent in office.

Speaking on the development via a statement shared on X on Thursday, Obi said Tinubu was insensitive to the plight of Nigerians with his frequent foreign travel.

Obi, a former two-term governor of Anambra State, said Tinubu would leave Nigeria amidst the various challenges bewildering the nation.

He stressed that the president’s travels should be more within troubled states and communities in Nigeria, to tackle the challenges bedevilling the country.

Obi stated: “Amid the deplorable state of our nation in all ramifications, we have a virtually indifferent President who has continued to display insensitivity to our situation.

“How can anyone explain that a President who came from Brazil recently and met with the President is returning to the same country, leaving the various degrees of challenges at home unresolved?

“The situation we find ourselves in is deeply worrisome. Our President, who has not found it worthy to visit any of our troubled states, takes joy in travelling to foreign countries at the slightest invitation or excuse. Often departing several days even before the events he’s invited to.”

The former governor noted that Nigeria’s insecurity situation, economic hardship, and human suffering have reached their peak, saying: “We are now counted among the most insecure nations, the most fragile economies, and the hungriest countries in the world.

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“This dire reality demands the full attention of Mr. President, and his travels should be more within our troubled states and communities, spending time on the ground, and taking decisive action to alleviate the people’s suffering rather than these overseas conferences that contribute little or no tangible value to our nation’s woes. And where the trip is necessary at all, it could be attended in just a few days rather than indulging in prolonged, unnecessary absences from a country that requires 24/7 attention.

“What our nation needs now is security of lives and properties, economic stability and ensuring that our people have food on their table.

“Our President’s planned trip of 12 days departing today, if necessary, should have been at most a 5-day trip as the event he was invited to in Japan commences on the 20th.

“Nigeria today demands competent leadership with capacity and compassion to start dealing with the problems besetting it with the presence and sacrifice required.

“Mr. President must, as a matter of urgency, commence tours of our states with the same enthusiasm he shows for jetting out of the country every month. These visits will enable him to see, listen and learn more about what Nigerians are going through.”

Tinubu departs Abuja for Japan, Brazil

Obi added that though Nigerians know that the nation’s challenges cannot be solved overnight, “they want to see 100% effort and tireless commitment to solving them”.

“Most importantly, our President must know that he’s not a tourist, but the Chief Executive of a troubled nation, so he must have consciousness, strict work schedules and a strict travelling schedule to show that he has a troubled country to quickly return to,” the former governor said.

The Star