Obi Slams Tinubu Over Aborted Trip to Benue Killings Site, says Leadership is About Sacrifice

Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential nominee, has taken aim at President Bola Tinubu for skipping a trip to Yelwata in Benue State after a brutal attack left the community devastated.

When Tinubu landed in Makurdi on Wednesday to offer condolences, he stopped short of visiting Yelwata itself, blaming “the rain, flood and bad roads” for preventing the journey.

In a statement on X on Friday, Obi stressed that “One of the consistent principles of leadership is the willingness to make ultimate sacrifices and take risks.” He added, “A true leader does not make excuses or complain; he shows up, sacrifices, and provides solutions, especially in difficult times.”

Although he conceded that safeguarding the president is important, Obi called the infrastructure excuse “unacceptable,” noting that there had been ample time to plan the visit. He challenged the administration: “If the Commander-in-Chief cannot reach a part of his own country due to bad roads, what hope is there for the ordinary Nigerian who plies those same routes every day?”

Obi also pointed out that Tinubu’s own aides did navigate the routes successfully, and asked, “Even if we accept that the roads were truly impassable, which they are not, what happened to the use of helicopters? Are we saying a nation that boasts of a presidential air fleet could not airlift the President to Yelwata to condole with grieving citizens?”

Rebuking the reliance on formalities over empathy, he said, “The people of Benue did not need protocol or explanations. They needed empathy. They needed presence.” He warned that deeper than potholes and floods is “institutional neglect,” and insisted that “A New Nigeria cannot, and will not, be built on excuses. It will be built on the sacrifices, courage, and responsibility of true leaders.”

On Thursday, Obi also criticised the pomp surrounding Tinubu’s visit, accusing the president of turning a solemn mission into “a fanfare.” He slammed the Benue government’s decision to declare a public holiday and shut schools, saying, “Children who should be mourning their slaughtered classmates and parents were instead lined up under the rain, rehearsed to sing and dance for the president.”