Labour Party chieftain Peter Obi has again accused President Bola Tinubu of indifference to the challenges confronting Nigeria, citing his unnecessary foreign trips, and stating that the president should spend more time at home to address them.

In a statement on Thursday, Mr Obi condemned the president’s planned two-nation visit to Japan and Brazil as ill-timed, accusing the president of departing the country earlier than necessary.

“Amid the deplorable state of our nation in all ramifications, we have a virtually indifferent president who has continued to display insensitivity to our situation,” the politician said. “How can anyone explain that a president who came from Brazil recently and met with the president is returning to the same country, leaving the various degrees of challenges at home unresolved?”

The politician slammed Mr Tinubu over his recurrent absences from the country amid challenges, saying the dire situation requires consistent presidential attention.

“Nigeria’s insecurity situation, economic hardship, and human suffering have reached their peak. We are now counted among the most insecure nations, the most fragile economies, and the hungriest countries in the world.

“This dire reality demands the full attention of Mr President, and his travels should be more within our troubled states and communities, spending time on the ground, and taking decisive action to alleviate the people’s suffering rather than these overseas conferences that contribute little or no tangible value to our nation’s woes.

“And where the trip is necessary at all, it could be attended in just a few days rather than indulging in prolonged, unnecessary absences from a country that requires 24/7 attention,” Mr Obi stated.

Stressing the need for Mr Tinubu to spend more time in Nigeria’s troubled states and communities, Mr Obi advised the president to reduce the number of days scheduled for his impending visit.

The former Anambra governor pointed out that what Nigeria “needs now is security of lives and properties, economic stability, and ensuring that our people have food on their table”.

“Our president’s planned 12-day trip, departing today, should have been at most a five-day trip, as the event he was invited to in Japan commences on the 20th,” said Mr Obi. “Mr President must, as a matter of urgency, commence tours of our states with the same enthusiasm he shows for jetting out of the country every month. These visits will enable him to see, listen, and learn more about what Nigerians are going through.”

The politician reiterated the need for leadership rooted in competence, capacity, and compassion to address Nigeria’s multilayered challenges.

“Nigeria today demands competent leadership with capacity and compassion to start dealing with the problems besetting it with the presence and sacrifice required. Most importantly, our president must know that he’s not a tourist, but the chief executive of a troubled nation, so he must have consciousness, strict work schedules, and a strict travelling schedule to show that he has a troubled country to quickly return to,” Mr Obi stressed.

A presidential spokesperson for the president declined to comment on Mr Obi’s opposition to Mr Tinubu’s trip.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the president, Bayo Onanuga, announced that Mr Tinubu would depart Nigeria on Thursday for a two-nation visit to Brazil and Japan.

The spokesperson noted that the president would attend the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development from August 20 to 22 in Japan and participate in a business forum with investors in Brazil.