Obi Calls For Tinubu’s Retirement, Vows To Serve One Term

National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi has called on President Bola Tinubu to consider stepping down, declaring that the country was being led “nowhere” under the current administration, while pledging that if elected in 2027, he would serve only a single four-year term.

Speaking in a wide-ranging interview covering the economy, insecurity, coalition politics, party defections and the criticisms that have trailed his political career, Obi said Nigeria was headed in the wrong direction and that the president should “step aside” and allow someone else to take over.

“We are headed in the wrong direction, as it is right now. Bola Tinubu is leading us nowhere,” Obi said.

“People might say I’m calling for his retirement – yes, maybe I am. He should just step aside.

“He served as governor, he’s fine, he should be allowed to retire in peace and then go home,” Obi said on Channels TV’s on Sunday.

Asked about a recent commendation of the Tinubu administration’s counter-terrorism efforts, Obi acknowledged the progress but insisted more needed to be done.

“Thank you to the president. But we need to do far more than what we are doing. I’m not saying nothing has been done – far more than what we are doing,” he said.

“I hear people say he has done his best, but the crisis we are facing does not support that. On Wednesday, 40 people were killed. On Thursday, 50 more. When a crisis situation requires added capacity, we must respond differently,” Obi said.

Responding to questions about reports that he had signed an agreement with the NDC to serve only one term if elected, Obi confirmed the arrangement, framing it as part of a broader commitment to accountability in leadership.

“I’ve said this several times – we have what we can call an understanding with the party. I don’t need more than four years to show the path Nigeria would take. It is a simple thing,” he said. “I will serve for four years. If you want, call it four years – not a day more.”

He rejected the suggestion that a single term would be insufficient to deliver results, pointing to his record as governor of Anambra State.

“When I was going to become governor, I told everybody what I would do, and when I came in, I did it.

“I told everybody to go and listen to my campaign promises. I said I would manage their money efficiently. Schools worked. Health worked. Everything I said, I did,” he said.

“That’s the way leaders should work. We’ve lost trust in our leaders – that’s why I always say we need to deal with the issue of character. The character of a leader must be consistent in doing the right thing,” the former Anambra State governor added.

Pressed on claims by a former northern state governor that he lacked what it takes to unite the country and could instead divide it, Obi strongly disputed the characterisation, citing his engagements across Nigeria’s north during his time as governor.

“If you look at my records, what he said is the opposite of the truth. When I was still governor, during the Boko Haram crisis, when his own brother was killed, I travelled to Borno State. When people didn’t want to go there, I went,” Obi said.

“I contributed about 50 million naira, visited the governor, visited the emir of Borno, visited the IDP camps in the most troubled parts of the north up to four times, and helped affected communities rebuild their schools,” he said regarding former Governor Ali Modu-Sheriff, who had said he did not possess the character to be a good leader.

Obi however disagreed, pointing out that his outreach extended nationwide.

“I’ve done the same thing in the southwest – been to schools in Kogi, schools of nursing, hospitals all over Nigeria. There’s no politician today in Nigeria who has travelled to as many places as I have, because I want the country to be together,” he said.

On whether Nigeria had healed enough from the wounds of the civil war era to accept an Igbo president, Obi said his candidacy itself would mark the beginning of that healing.

“That is the beginning of the foundation of the healing, and that is where you start to build the movement for Nigeria,” he said.

“Those who are trapped in the process of yesterday must know the future. There must be a time when we know we are the same and come together. I will never divide the country. I will show love to every part of Nigeria,” he added.

Addressing scepticism from some northerners directly, Obi pointed to his record of appointing Muslims to key positions during his time as governor.

“All the commissioners who served with me in office were Muslims. As governor, I was paying for Muslims in Anambra to go on Hajj, just as I paid for Christians to go on pilgrimage,” he said.

“I am currently supporting schools in Kaduna and Bauchi. These are things people say to keep Nigeria divided instead of discussing the real problems of this country,” he stressed.

Asked what he would do differently on insecurity, Obi declined to detail a specific three-point plan but promised a hands-on, highly visible leadership style.

“I will be far more committed in dealing with that issue, and I will be at the forefront. I will be the driver. I will visit it. I will deal with it,” he said.

He assured, “Whatever it takes to secure any Nigerian, I will do that. I will be more mobile.”

He cited past instances where he personally responded to crises as governor.

“I can show you six places where we had crises and I went there physically. We had a situation where criminals invaded a school at night – I was there by 3 a.m. physically. I didn’t ask people to go. I didn’t tell anybody. You can ask them,” he said.

He also linked insecurity to poverty and underinvestment in education.

“The more you reduce poverty, the more you reduce criminality. You need to invest in education. Everybody will see it, everybody will feel it,” he said.

Responding to claims that he lacks the backing of political heavyweights in the South-East, Obi said his popular support in the region spoke for itself.

“For somebody who won the entire zone with an average of 80 percent of the vote, I think I’m getting all the support I need,” he said. “If the big ones are not supporting me, it doesn’t matter – I have the popularity of the vote.”

Pressed to name southeastern political figures backing him, Obi declined.

“This is not the time to name anybody. Charity begins at home – the South-East is backing me. That’s why I have 80 percent of the vote,” he said.

On whether his 2023 performance in Lagos, where he outperformed expectations, could be repeated in 2027, Obi expressed confidence, dismissing suggestions that his showing was a fluke tied to religious voting blocs.

“What I’m only asking for is a free, fair and credible election, which will go down as part of his legacy,” Obi said, referring to President Tinubu.