Presidency Blasts Obi’s Call, Cites GDP, NGX and Reserve Gains

The Presidency on Monday issued a stinging response to Peter Obi’s call for President Bola Tinubu to resign, with spokesman Bayo Onanuga describing the demand as childish and hollow and accusing Obi of presenting a selective and distorted view of Nigeria’s economic and governance trajectory since May 2023.

Onanuga rejected Obi’s comparison of Tinubu’s situation to that of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, saying Nigeria operates under a presidential system of government and not a parliamentary one, making the comparison constitutionally irrelevant. He said the call reflected Obi’s chronic misunderstanding of governance frameworks and his habit of simplistic analysis dressed up as principled commentary.

Presidency Cites Economic Wins

The Presidency defended the administration’s economic record, pointing to positive GDP growth in every quarter since May 2023, the NGX All-Share Index rising from 50,000 to over 250,000 points, foreign reserves exceeding 50 billion dollars, consistent trade surpluses, and record-high foreign direct and portfolio investments. Onanuga also said Nigeria’s academic calendar had remained uninterrupted for three years, an outcome the Presidency described as one of its most under-reported successes.

On security, the statement noted that the administration had deployed advanced technologies and drones and appointed a Special Adviser on Homeland Security. It also referenced the joint US-Nigeria operation that killed ISIS global second-in-command Abu-Bilal al-Minuki in May as evidence of measurable security progress.

Obi’s Anambra Record Invoked

Furthermore, Onanuga attacked Obi’s record as Governor of Anambra State, describing him as a colossal failure unable to secure lives and property in his own state, citing his successor Willie Obiano’s assessment. He said it was laughable that someone with that record was calling for a president’s resignation over security breaches in parts of a far larger and more complex country. Notably, Obi’s camp rejected the characterisation, calling it a personal attack designed to deflect from genuine governance concerns. Consequently, the exchange is expected to intensify as the 2027 campaign season approaches, with insecurity and economic credibility emerging as the central battlegrounds.