By Kazem Waris
Ahead of the 2027 presidential election, the Peter Obi Media Office, POMR, has said the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, is seeking the presidency on the strength of his performance record rather than political patronage.
The media office said Obi’s experience as governor of Anambra State from 2006 to 2014 provided him with a record of managing public resources, which it argued distinguishes him from politicians whose claims to national leadership are based largely on political connections.
In a statement signed on Sunday by its spokesman, Idris Zekeri, the office said Obi demonstrated fiscal discipline during his tenure, claiming that Anambra became one of the least-indebted states while he was governor and accumulated substantial savings and investments.
It cited Obi’s 2023 manifesto as putting the value of the state’s savings and investments at about $500 million, including $156 million in dollar-denominated bonds.
The office said the record demonstrated that government could save and invest public resources rather than merely spend them.
It also highlighted what it described as Obi’s investments in education, healthcare and human capital, as well as his administration’s engagement with development institutions including the World Bank, UNDP, DFID and the European Union.
According to the statement, Obi’s administration returned mission schools to their original owners, established partnerships with them and recorded improved performance in WAEC and NECO examinations.
The media office also cited investments in health institutions and accreditation, saying Obi’s 2023 manifesto reported that more than 12 health institutions, including two hospitals, had secured accreditation by the end of his tenure.
It said his administration introduced poverty mapping, aerial mapping and planning initiatives and developed the Anambra Integrated Development Strategy, ANIDS, as a framework for coordinated development.
The office further argued that Obi’s experience in business and banking before entering politics gave him a combination of private-sector, financial-management and public-sector experience.
It said the former governor should therefore be assessed against his record in Anambra rather than solely on campaign promises.
The statement said: “Peter Obi is not asking Nigerians to make him President so that he can learn how government works. He is asking Nigerians to entrust him with Nigeria after demonstrating, as Governor of Anambra, how he manages money, builds institutions, invests in human capital and plans for the future.”
However, the Obi media office also launched a broad criticism of the administration of President Bola Tinubu, listing what it described as 10 failures Nigerians could not ignore.
It identified the cost-of-living crisis as one of the major challenges, arguing that the removal of the petrol subsidy and other economic reforms had contributed to higher food, transportation and other living costs.
It also cited inflation and declining purchasing power, saying many Nigerians now found their incomes buying less as wages struggled to keep pace with rising prices.
The office listed naira instability and the resulting increase in the cost of imported goods, medicines, machinery and industrial inputs, as well as the sharp rise in petrol prices following subsidy reforms.
Other issues identified were rising poverty and hardship, weak employment and economic opportunities, continuing security challenges, concerns over public trust and transparency, perceived political rather than institutional governance, and what it described as a gap between government promises and the lived experience of Nigerians.
On security, the office said banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and communal violence continued to affect parts of the country, raising questions about the effectiveness of the government’s security strategy.
It also raised concerns about government spending, appointments, procurement and the management of public resources, saying controversies in these areas had continued to generate questions about transparency and accountability.
The office further alleged that the administration had sometimes appeared more focused on political consolidation and 2027 calculations than on building strong and independent institutions.
On the overall impact of the reforms, it said the immediate burden had fallen disproportionately on ordinary Nigerians.
“The fundamental question is not whether Tinubu inherited a difficult Nigeria. He did. The question is whether, after taking difficult decisions, Nigerians are better off today—and whether the government has convincingly demonstrated that today’s sacrifice is producing tomorrow’s prosperity,” the statement said.
