Former Ekiti State governorship candidate, Erelu Elebute Halle, has pushed back against calls for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to resign over the country’s security challenges, arguing that such a move would not end insurgency or secure the release of kidnapped victims.
Speaking on Adamimogo 105.1FM, Halle reacted to comments by former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, who reportedly urged President Tinubu to resign or reconsider seeking re-election following the continued captivity of schoolchildren abducted in Oba Omo Forest.
According to Halle, insecurity has remained a persistent challenge across successive administrations and should not be used as the sole basis for demanding the resignation of a president.
“The federal government has been doing its best to ensure peace is restored and people are brought back home. The fact that one particular case has not been resolved should not be the reason a government resigns,” she said.
She noted that calls for presidents to resign over insecurity are uncommon in Africa, adding that previous governments also faced grave security crises without their leaders stepping down.
Questioning the logic behind the demand, Halle asked whether the President’s resignation would automatically lead to the release of the abducted children.
“If he resigns today, does that bring the children back? Would that solve the problem?” she queried.
The former governorship candidate, however, said the conversation would be different if the kidnappers explicitly demanded the President’s resignation as a condition for freeing the victims.
“If those who kidnapped the children come out and say the only condition for their release is for the President to resign, then there can be negotiations. But nobody has said that, and nobody knows exactly what these people want,” she added.
Halle also weighed in on the controversy surrounding the alleged operation of a “fake agency” linked to individuals close to the Presidency. While expressing concern over the allegations, she declined to draw conclusions, saying she was waiting for the facts to emerge.
“I’m watching the whole thing from afar. I’m not an investigative officer, so I cannot say who is right or wrong. But in every government, there are usually bad eggs, and you cannot completely rule out such situations,” she said.
