Tinubu’s Saint Lucia trip sparks emotional backlash as Obi accuses president of neglect

Tinubu’s Saint Lucia trip stirs controversy as Peter Obi accuses the president of neglect while presidency counters with evidence of domestic engagement

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]inubu’s Saint Lucia trip has triggered a heated political face-off between the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, and the Presidency, with accusations and rebuttals dominating both media and public discourse for days.

Also read: Peter Obi criticises Tinubu’s Benue condolence visit

Obi criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over his recent journey to the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia, suggesting it was a leisure trip taken at a time when Nigeria faces deepening crises across various sectors.

In a widely shared statement, Obi said he found it difficult to believe that a sitting president would embark on what he described as an unnecessary foreign trip while floods, insecurity, and economic instability persisted across the country.

“I didn’t want to believe that anybody in the position of authority, more so the President, on whose table the buck stops in this country, with all the myriad problems in virtually all areas of governance, would contemplate a leisure trip at this time,” Obi declared.

“This is a President going for leisure when he couldn’t visit Minna, Niger state where over two hundred lives were lost and over 700 persons still missing in a flood natural disaster.”

Obi’s comment referenced recent natural disasters and security incidents, drawing a sharp contrast between domestic distress and the President’s presence abroad.

The Presidency responded quickly. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, stated that the  trip was consistent with Nigeria’s foreign policy direction under the Four D’s strategy: Democracy, Development, Diaspora, and Demography.

His colleague, Frederick Nwabufo, added a stinging critique, calling Obi a “tragedy connoisseur” and accusing him of perpetuating baseless attacks devoid of factual substance.

Despite the rebuttals, Obi doubled down on his stance during a Sunday X Space session with his supporters. There, he made a provocative claim: that President Tinubu had not spent a single night in any Nigerian state apart from Lagos since taking office.

Instead, he alleged, Tinubu chose to spend eight nights in Saint Lucia—“a place smaller than Ajegunle,” in Obi’s words.

The statement resonated among many of Obi’s supporters and trended across social media. However, a closer look at the President’s official itinerary challenges that assertion.

Tinubu visited Katsina State between 4 and 6 May 2025 for security assessments and meetings with military personnel.

Given the multi-day engagements and the nature of the visit, it is evident he remained in the state overnight. That fact alone undermines Obi’s claim.

I didn’t want to believe that anybody in the position of authority, more so the President, on whose table the buck stops in this country, with all the myriad problems in virtually all areas of governance, would contemplate a leisure trip at this time.

Moreover, President Tinubu maintains an official residence at Aso Rock in Abuja, where he performs most of his executive responsibilities.

Any narrative suggesting that Abuja does not count as a Nigerian state in which he resides weakens the constitutional understanding of Nigeria’s governance structure.

A senior government source noted that the trip was neither a private vacation nor a sudden detour. It included scheduled bilateral engagements and diaspora meetings in keeping with national interests.

The source added that even if the trip had leisure components, they did not warrant Obi’s sweeping conclusions.

Obi’s assertion also omitted the president’s shorter visits to states such as Anambra, Benue, and Ondo, though those did not involve confirmed overnight stays.

Still, his overnight visit to Katsina and routine residency in Abuja are enough to refute claims that he has remained in Lagos alone.

“The facts speak clearly. The president has not been absent from Nigeria’s landscape,” a presidency aide said.

“He has travelled within the country for both ceremonial and substantive reasons, and his work continues from wherever he is.”

As the political temperature rises over the trip, Nigerians are left to navigate between partisan narratives and verified facts.

Also read: Peter Obi denies secret meeting with Tinubu in Rome over alleged Fidelity Bank debt

While criticism is a democratic right, the expectation remains that public figures ground their allegations in verifiable truth.