Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, has been lauded by his supporters for his outstanding performance as a two-term governor of Anambra State as the foundation for his election as Nigeria’s president in 2023.
Apart from the numerous young people known as Obi-dients who oiled his campaign, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and major powerbrokers in the country’s politico-military establishment backed Obi’s candidacy.
Most of his supporters claimed that his administration invested heavily in education, renovating schools and providing free textbooks to students.
It was also claimed that Obi improved Anambra state’s infrastructure by constructing roads, bridges, and other necessary infrastructure. He also renovated hospitals and healthcare facilities, allowing the state’s citizens to receive free healthcare.
Obi, a former vice-presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the 2019 election, is also known as a ‘frugal spender,’ leaving ‘N75 billion’ in the state’s purse when he handed over to his successor, Willie Obiano, in 2014.
While serving as Anambra’s chief executive from 2006 to 2014, Obi allegedly reduced the cost of governance, eliminated wasteful spending, and increased the state’s revenue through aggressive tax collection.
Some of these claims have been investigated and found to be dubious or unfounded. Obi’s successor, Obiano, dismissed his claims that he left ‘N75 billion’ in state coffers in 2015 as “half-truths” in 2015. According to Obiano, his predecessor left the state with a massive debt burden of N106.2 billion when his tenure expired on March 17, 2014.
Obiano may have made this statement after the pair split up a few months after Obi left office, according to QUEST TIMES’ understanding.
In November 2022, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, the current Governor of Anambra State who succeeded Obiano, stated that Obi’s much-touted investment in Anambra state government is worth next to nothing.
Previous tweets assessing Obi’s performance by current Obi supporters
QUEST TIMES checked tweets from current Obi supporters between 2011 and 2017, when Obi was still Anambra governor or months into his successor’s reign, to confirm these details.
Here are a few tweets from Obi’s well-known supporters:
Nnamdi Chife (@NnamdiChife): “I can’t believe Gov. Peter Obi spent 8years adding to the misery of Anambra state in the name of #ANIDS.”
Nnamdi Chife (@NnamdiChife): “Same way OBJ tried to destroy Anambra state. Peter Obi and GEJ going the same way.”
Castro (@comradeprimus): “A severely sick Governor Sullivan Chime is much better than a healthy Governor Peter Obi.”
Onye Nkuzi (@cchukudebelu) “I know, Obi always built poor quality structures.”
Onye Nkuzi (@cchukudebelu) “There’s no single structure built by Peter Obi that looks good, compare that with Chime.”
Onye Nkuzi (@cchukudebelu) “The worst people to make governors are traders. Traders have no appreciation for aesthetics in infrastructure.”
Solomon Ogbonna E. (@soezea) “In terms of performance Senator Ngige performed more than gov Peter Obi.”
Expert speaks
In assessing the performance of Obi and his capacity to lead the country, Dr. Ferdinand Ottoh, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Lagos said “Obi did well in various areas of governance as Anambra state Governor. He was able to institute fiscal accountability because the problem was not about revenue generation, but an expenditure problem.”
“Nigeria needs to start thinking in this direction,” says the scholar while speaking with QUEST TIMES. “We need to start electing leaders who will be resourceful with their resources and fight corruption holistically,” he said.