Obi slams Tinubu over St Lucia trip

The 2023 Labour party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his visit to Saint Lucia.

Obi described it as ill-timed and insensitive to the current hardship and insecurity ravaging the country.

Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said on Friday that the President would visit Saint Lucia on Saturday for a state visit as part of efforts to deepen Nigeria’s engagement with the Caribbean nations and strengthen South-South cooperation.

Onanuga added that at the end of the visit to the island nation, Tinubu would fly to Brazil to participate in the 17th Summit of BRICS in Rio de Janeiro.

However, Obi, in a statement titled “No, Mr President, This is Not the Time for Holidaying,” expressed shock at Tinubu’s choice to embark on a vacation while Nigerians continue to grapple with hunger, insecurity, and devastation from natural disasters.

“I didn’t want to believe that anybody in the position of authority, more so the President, on whose table the buck stops in this country, with all the myriad problems in virtually all areas of governance, would contemplate a leisure trip at this time,” Obi said.

He questioned how the President could contemplate a vacation while the country battles severe insecurity, hunger, and the aftermath of natural disasters.

“What I have seen and witnessed in the last two years has left me in shock about poor governance delivery and apparent channelling of energy into politics and satisfaction of the elites, while the masses in our midst are languishing in want.

“In the past two years, Nigeria has lost more people to all sorts of criminality than a country that is officially at war. Without any twilight, Nigeria ranks among the most insecure places in the world.

Nigerians are hungrier, and most people do not know where their next meal will come from.

“With such a gory picture of one’s country, you can imagine my bewilderment when I saw a news release from the Presidency announcing that President Bola Tinubu is departing Nigeria today (Saturday) for a visit to Saint Lucia in the Caribbean,” Obi added.

The former Anambra State governor cited the President’s absence from disaster-hit areas such as Minna, Niger State, where floods reportedly claimed over 200 lives and left hundreds missing as evidence of failed leadership.

Obi also criticised Tinubu’s visit to Benue State, describing it as a political jamboree and not a condolence visit.