Ologun warns Obi against claiming to speak for Nigerians

Michael Olumide

General Executive Director, Centre for Responsive Governance, Ayodeji Ologun, has cautioned the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, against calling for the resignation of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, insisting that while every Nigerian has the constitutional right to criticise the government, no individual should claim to speak on behalf of the entire nation.

Ologun maintained that the appropriate avenue for determining whether President Tinubu deserves to remain in office is through the ballot box rather than public demands for resignation.

He spoke during an exclusive interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State.

His remarks followed comments by the former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, who urged President Tinubu to emulate former British Prime Minister Keir Starmer by stepping down, arguing that the current administration has failed to meet Nigerians’ expectations amid worsening economic and social conditions.

Responding, Ologun described Obi’s position as politically motivated, arguing that although there is nothing unconstitutional about calling on an elected president to resign, such calls should not be presented as reflecting the collective opinion of Nigerians.

“There is nothing wrong in calling for the resignation of a president. And I can say that coming from the personality of Peter Obi, without sounding immodest, it is simply political,” he said.

He argued that voluntary resignation by democratically elected presidents is extremely uncommon across the world, stressing that political pressure alone hardly compels elected leaders to leave office before the expiration of their tenure.

“In the history of the world, how many democratically elected presidents have we seen resign, irrespective of what has become the outcome of their presidency? People are quick to say it is an African thing, but by facts and figures, how many presidents in the history of the world have resigned after being democratically elected, irrespective of their performance or even their health condition, including American presidents?” he queried.

According to Ologun, Obi, like every Nigerian citizen, is entitled to express dissatisfaction with the government, but his views should not be mistaken for the collective position of the Nigerian people.

“If Nigerians or the majority of us feel that President Tinubu has not done enough, it is not in the opinion of Peter Obi speaking or assuming to be speaking for the rest of us. We should wait till the day of election, let ballots be cast, and let the people decide if Tinubu should continue as President or if he should be removed to give room for a new bloc,” he said.

Ologun also questioned the credibility of some of Obi’s public statements, alleging that many of the statistics cited by the former presidential candidate often fail independent verification.

“One of the reasons I don’t love Peter Obi and I will never support him is the fact that he misrepresents facts a lot. If Peter Obi gives you a figure during an interview, go and fact-check it. Most probably, about 80 per cent of the time, the figures he gives are false,” he alleged.

On the economy, Ologun argued that assessments of President Tinubu’s administration should not be based solely on political opinion, noting that many economists and international financial institutions rely on measurable indicators that may present a different picture of the country’s economic trajectory.

“The fact that he believes that the economic performance of Bola Ahmed Tinubu has failed does not also mean that to some other people who are bigger than him, or even more knowledgeable than him, the economic trajectory of Bola Ahmed Tinubu has failed,” he stated.

“If you ask some economists, they will compare data and tell you that Nigeria’s economy is progressing. They will even cite figures released by institutions such as the World Bank and regional economic bodies to support their conclusions.”

Despite defending the democratic process, Ologun acknowledged that security remains the primary constitutional responsibility of any government, warning that failure to protect lives and property is a significant indicator of poor governance.

“When the President gets into office, the first thing he has to do is protect the lives and property of the people. If a government fails to fulfil this constitutional responsibility, particularly by the middle of its tenure, that is a pointer that such a government is failing and may not deserve a second term,” he said.

He further rejected comparisons between Nigeria’s presidential system and the United Kingdom’s parliamentary model, arguing that the resignation of a British Prime Minister cannot be equated with that of a Nigerian President.

“If we want to put this head-to-head, the President is as good as the King in the hierarchy of governance in the United Kingdom. Since we don’t have a history of kings or queens resigning, we can equally say no President in Nigeria has ever resigned,” he argued.

He added that resignations by ministers and prime ministers are common features of parliamentary democracies and should not be used to justify calls for a sitting Nigerian president to step down.

“To say that because a Prime Minister resigns, the President should also resign is like saying ministers resign here in Nigeria too. That is no big deal,” he said.
Ologun concluded that criticism remains an essential element of democracy but insisted that leadership transitions in presidential democracies are ordinarily determined through elections rather than voluntary resignation.

“If we look at the trajectory of democratic elections across the world, very few presidents have voluntarily resigned. Most elected leaders complete their constitutional tenure except where they are faced with extraordinary circumstances such as impeachment or serious health challenges.

“So, except a president is faced with the threat of impeachment or is about to die in office, you will hardly find a democratically elected president resigning anywhere in the world,” he said.