By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
The Presidency has dismissed former Anambra State governor Peter Obi’s call for President Bola Tinubu’s resignation, describing it as “childish and hollow” and insisting that the administration has recorded significant gains in security, economic management and infrastructure since assuming office in May 2023.
In a statement issued on Monday, 22 June, 2026 by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidential Spokesman critized Obi’s comparison of Nigeria’s situation with the resignation of the British Prime Minister was misplaced, noting that Nigeria operates a presidential system with fixed terms.
He also cited the recent victories recorded by the All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State and senatorial elections in Nasarawa, Enugu, Ondo and Rivers states as evidence of continued public support for President Tinubu and the ruling party.
“The election results, some early referendum of sorts, show that President Tinubu and his party are popular with Nigerians. Obi should wait until the presidential election to know what the people think of Tinubu’s government. Moving to use X to harangue the President out of office is off the mark and anti-democratic,” he said.
The Presidency argued that Tinubu inherited deep-rooted security challenges and had since intensified efforts to tackle insecurity across the country.
According to Onanuga, hundreds of abducted persons have been rescued in operations in Borno and the North-West, while over 15,000 terrorists have been eliminated.
He said the administration had expanded investments in security through the deployment of drones and advanced technology, alongside the appointment of a Special Adviser on Homeland Security.
“These actions demonstrate commitment, not failure,” he said.
Onanuga also took a swipe at Obi, saying it was ironic that a former governor whom his successor, Willie Obiano, allegedly accused of failing to secure lives and property in Anambra was now demanding Tinubu’s resignation over security breaches.
On the economy, the Presidential spokesman rejected Obi’s claim that Nigeria was in its worst condition, insisting that available data reflected improvements.
He said Tinubu inherited what a successor to Obi once described as “a dead horse economy” and immediately embarked on reforms previous administrations had avoided.
According to him, the economy has recorded positive GDP growth in every quarter since 2023, while foreign reserves have climbed above $50 billion.
He added that oil production had risen from less than one million barrels per day to about 1.8 million barrels daily.
Onanuga said federation revenue was projected to exceed N30 trillion this year, compared with N7.7 trillion in 2022.
“By May this year, N15.7 trillion had already been collected, more than twice the entire revenue generated in 2022,” he said.
He noted that increased revenues had provided states with more resources for investments in education, healthcare, infrastructure and housing.
The Presidential spokesman also highlighted the performance of the stock market, saying the All-Share Index had risen from 50,000 to over 250,000, creating wealth for about six million investors.
He added that the naira had remained stable, while foreign direct and portfolio investments had reached record levels, particularly in the oil and gas sector.
On infrastructure, Onanuga cited ongoing work on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway as evidence of the administration’s commitment to development.
He also pointed to the introduction of compressed natural gas as an alternative to petrol and diesel, as well as the interest-free loan scheme benefiting nearly two million tertiary students.
According to him, the absence of strikes by ASUU and NASU during the past three years represented the fulfilment of one of Tinubu’s promises to Nigerian students.
“A four-year programme will be a four-year programme. It has been a promise well kept, which Obi, in his penchant for bad news, has never sung about and will never acknowledge,” he said.
Responding to Obi’s criticism of electricity supply, Onanuga accused him and his supporters of deliberately distorting Tinubu’s campaign promise.
He quoted the President as saying: “Whichever way, by all means necessary, you will have electricity, and you will not pay for estimated bills anymore. A promise made will be a promise kept. If I don’t keep the promise and I come for a second term, don’t vote for me unless I give you adequate reasons why I couldn’t deliver.”
According to him, Tinubu’s first major intervention in the sector was the signing of the Electricity Act, which empowers states to generate, transmit and distribute electricity independently.
He added that millions of prepaid meters had been rolled out, with plans to install seven million more, while off-grid solar projects were being expanded across schools, hospitals and markets.
Although acknowledging the high cost of living, Onanuga attributed the situation partly to global economic disruptions arising from tensions in the Middle East.
Describing Obi’s call for Tinubu’s resignation as political grandstanding, he said the former governor was merely seeking to distract attention from the APC’s recent electoral victories.
“Leadership is about determination to confront the challenges facing our country and the economy. President Tinubu focuses on solutions, not rhetoric investing in reforms, stabilising the economy, improving security and laying the groundwork for a more prosperous Nigeria,” he said.
Onanuga said the President had assembled “a team of thinkers and doers” and maintained that Nigeria under Tinubu had become “an exemplar for other nations to copy.”
He accused Obi of living in “self-constructed echo chambers” and promoting narratives detached from reality.
“With his puerile tweet on X, we are now convinced that Peter Obi lives in his self-constructed echo chambers, where he reels off lie after lie to himself and believes his self-created reality about the situation in Nigeria. We sympathise with him. That reality he fantasises about is mostly a figment of his imagination,” the statement added.
