Peter Obi: We Must Dismantle the Crime Scene Tinubu is Running

Former presidential candidate Peter Obi delivered a blistering critique of Nigeria’s leadership again at a public book launch in Abuja on Tuesday, describing the country under President Bola Tinubu as a “crime scene” in urgent need of reform.

Obi, who contested the 2023 election under the Labour Party, spoke at the unveiling of Obi: The Political Change Agent, a book by journalist and former ThisDay editor Ike Abonyi. His remarks quickly moved beyond reflection and into an unflinching assessment of the Tinubu administration.

“We are living in a crime scene”

“There is no way we will be able to survive with this. It is impossible,” Obi said, calling for collective action to rebuild Nigeria from the ground up.

He described a nation where citizens are increasingly displaced, not by natural disasters or foreign wars, but by government neglect and insecurity.

“Today in Nigeria, we are not at war, but Nigerians are living in IDP camps in their own country. Nigerians are refugees in Chad and Cameroon,” Obi said. “And the only reason is that we don’t have a government that cares for the people.”

He warned that while political leaders celebrate and posture, the country is edging toward collapse. “Some people are dancing while the ship is sinking. When it finally goes down, it will consume everyone, rich or poor.”

A system designed to fail

Peter Obi criticised the country’s political and economic structure, noting that they are fundamentally broken. He argued that what passes for governance today is little more than institutionalised looting, where state resources are diverted for personal gain, and economic reforms are introduced without integrity.

According to him, Nigeria’s economic woes are not merely technical but moral. “Stolen money doesn’t just disappear; it weakens the economy and devalues the naira,” he said.

He specifically questioned the Tinubu administration’s approach to fuel subsidy removal, asserting that eliminating corruption within the subsidy system should have been the priority. “You can’t reform a corrupt structure by simply cutting off the top,” Obi said. “You dismantle the rot first.”

Lessons from abroad, failures at home

Obi pointed to Ghana and Angola as African examples where stronger fiscal discipline and transparent governance have helped stabilise national currencies. Nigeria, he argued, has the potential to follow suit, but only if it confronts its deep-seated culture of impunity and illicit wealth.

He also lamented Nigeria’s declining productive sectors. “We dismantled colonial infrastructure like rail, instead of upgrading it. Now we’re left with empty roads, no trains, and a collapsing manufacturing base,” Obi said.

A call for political renewal

But Peter Obi didn’t stop at criticism. He called for a complete political reset, beginning with citizen action and legislative accountability. “We must begin to scrutinise our lawmakers with the same intensity we apply to presidential candidates,” he urged.

He challenged Nigerians to move beyond apathy and engage in shaping the country’s future.

“Leadership demands sacrifice. It’s time to stop clapping for those dancing while everything burns,” Obi said. “We must identify and support people who are serious about rebuilding this country.”

smantling infrastructure instead of modernising it. He described the decline of the manufacturing and agricultural sectors as symptomatic of a deeper rot in national planning and governance.

“We tore down railways instead of upgrading them. Now we wonder why the roads are empty, why the economy isn’t producing,” he said.

Beyond criticism, Obi called for a fundamental political reset, urging Nigerians to abandon complacency and demand accountability from elected officials, particularly lawmakers who, in his view, have escaped sufficient scrutiny.

“Leadership requires sacrifice,” he said. “We cannot keep recycling failure and expect progress. Citizens must begin to identify and support leaders committed to real change.”