Politics
How Peter Obi was ‘coerced’ into running for governor of Anambra state
The leading presidential candidate and flag-bearer of the Labour Party Mr. Peter Obi has amassed enormous support which cuts across all geo-political regions in Nigeria and he can unarguably be projected as the most accepted candidate amongst the 4 front runners for the Aso Rock seat in 2023.
Unlike many politicians who joined politics on their own volition, Peter Obi is one of the very few politicians who never desired public office prior to his decision to run for the Anambra gubernatorial elections in 2003, a decision that came at a very huge cost because he had to leave his budding and vast business empire to rescue a state drowning in questionable governance and all that comes with it.
In this article, we will discuss how Peter Obi was ‘coerced’ into running for the Anambra governorship position in 2002.
In 2002, the PDP stakeholders & power brokers asked Prof ABC Nwosu, a respected figure and elder statesman, to recommend 3 very competent people that are capable of restoring Anambra from its then very horrible state under the erstwhile governor, Dr Chinweoke Mbadinuju. Prof Nwosu forwarded 3 names;
- Peter Obi
- Peter Obi
- Peter Obi
When Prof. Nwosu was questioned about his choice and why he didn’t nominate anyone else apart from Obi, he said, “Peter Obi is the only one I know who can restore Anambra state and take it to a new phase, he is the only one I can vouch for, he is the only one I can guarantee.
He is an honest and straightforward man, he is the only one I know who will work for the interest of the people, and not for a few elites and cabals”.
The PDP power brokers then made an enquiry about the then 41 year old Obi who at the time was the Chairman of Fidelity bank PLC, Guardian Express mortgage bank and also held an executive director position in Guardian Express Bank Limited, alongside sitting on the boards of over 5 multinational corporations.
This was in addition to running a multi-billion naira commodity franchise in Lagos and Onitsha. The PDP discovered that the man Obi was a very dexterous, disciplined and principled man and could pose threats to their embezzlement plans for the state and so they decided against going for him.
They didn’t want anyone who they couldn’t control like a puppet, this gave the Uba brothers (Chris and Andy Uba) an opportunity to hijack the party due to their close relationship with President Obasanjo, as Andy Obi was then the senior special assistant to president Obasanjo on domestic affairs, it was said that he was the first person Obasanjo saw when he woke and the last person he’d see before he sleeps, he was the gate-keeper of Aso-Rock, he was extremely close to the president, so he wielded this influence and connection graciously.
Obi would decline Prof Nwosu’s request to join the race for the 2003 gubernatorial race but after persistent pleas from not just Prof Nwosu, but other prominent figures from the state like Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu the Biafra warlord, former Vice-president of Nigeria Dr Alex Ekwueme, and a delegation of Catholic Bishops, he obliged their request and would then resign his many positions in the business world to throw down his gauntlet for the governorahip seat.
Seeing as there was no space for him in PDP, he then joined the newly formed APGA on the advice of his political mentor Odumegwu Ojukwu and Prof Nwosu.
This was Obi’s first time in politics, he knew nothing about maneuvering the radical, corrupt and violent Anambra state elections at the time and unlike other candidates who went about sharing monies for citizens, Obi would address the pertinent issues the state faced at the time, laying out a blueprint on how he’d address those issues if and when elected.
Against all odds, Peter Obi would later win the election, even though he was initially robbed of his victory by the wide spread rigging of PDP, he regained his mandate through the appeal court in 2006, 3 years into the tenure of the PDP and the Uba brothers imposed choice, Chris Ngige, who was made to take an oath of loyalty to them in 2003 in the now infamous Okija shrine.