•Says Obi is a once-in- a-generation leader

A chieftain of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Chief Nelson Ahamefula Akuma, has called on Nigerians to do everything humanly and legally possible to ensure that Peter Obi is elected president in 2027.

Speaking weekend in an interview with journalists in Lagos, Akuma who contested for Ebonyi South Senatorial Zone NDC ticket, said that the only thing that would save Nigeria going forward is a democratic rebellion of the masses that would bring about Peter Obi’s presidency.

According to him, with the way things stand in the country at the moment, the suffering that people are going through would just be an introduction if the APC government is allowed to continue at the centre beyond 2027.

He alleged that the reason why politicians are ganging up against the NDC presidential candidate is because they are afraid of being exposed.

Akuma said: “If people are constantly ganging up against one person, pay attention because sometimes the person standing alone is not the weak one. They are the threat, not a threat because they are evil and afraid of the truth. The truth makes a lot of people uncomfortable, especially people who benefit from lies, manipulations or fake loyalty. History has shown this again and again. The real ones are often isolated first, mocked first, attacked first because sometimes the crowds don’t need the truth. If you look very well that is exactly what is happening to Peter Obi. That is why he is always on their lips. That is why they are having sleepless night over him. May be they have even developed a centre for the study of Peter Obi, just to see if they could see where he made mistake.”

According to Akuma, a lot of the time gullible crowds are manipulated into forming groups to silence the person who refuse to pretend or join the band wagon.

He said that the only thing they have against Peter Obi is that he has refused to be like them.

His words: “My candid advice to Nigerians is, don’t blindly follow what everyone says, observe, think deeply, the person standing alone might be the only one brave enough to be real. In leadership, the first thing that we are looking for is character. If someone doesn’t have integrity, values and commitment to serve, however, capable he or she may be, that person must not be allowed to lead and that is where we are getting it wrong in this country. Because of money, religion and tribalism, people with questionable character are allowed into leadership positions and we are getting our fingers burnt. Year-in, year-out, suffering is increasing instead of abating in a country as abundantly blessed with human and natural resources as Nigeria. That is why we are rooting for Peter Obi. He doesn’t just have good character, he also has competence, the judgment and ability to lead. He has even done that in his private capacity and also as a state governor.”

Akuma said that there is a very big difference between one who is looking for a job in government and another who wants to serve.

According to him, while most Nigerian politicians are looking for jobs in government because they have nothing to feed themselves outside politics, Peter Obi wants to go into government to serve because before joining politics, he was already a very successful business man.

“Unlike many Nigerian politicians whose careers were shaped within the traditional machinery of party politics, Obi arrived in public life through the private sector. Long before election campaigns turned him into a national figure, he had established himself as a successful businessman and corporate executive, serving on the boards of several companies and earning a reputation for financial discipline, strategic thinking, and sound corporate governance. The private sector became his first classroom in leadership, and there he learned lessons that have defined his political philosophy: resources are finite, waste carries consequences, and institutions endure only when accountability becomes a culture rather than an occasional slogan. Those convictions are what have eventually distinguished both his style of governance and his public identity,” Akuma said.

On those who are saying that Peter Obi is not prepared for national leadership, Akuma said that after graduating from the Department of Philosophy at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1984.Obi went ahead to broadened his education through executive programmes at institutions including Lagos Business School, the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Switzerland; Harvard Business School; Saïd Business School, University of Oxford; Cambridge Judge Business School; and the Kellogg School of Management.

According to Akuma, it was those experiences that complemented his business background and helped shape the leadership philosophy for which he later became known.

Speaking further, he said that the NDC presidential flag bearer whose emphasis has always been on fiscal prudence, accountability, and disciplined public finance is the only one that can save Nigeria’s collapsing economy and put the country on the path of development and progress.

“When Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, insisted that integrity mattered more than popularity, he transformed a resource poor island into one of the world’s most efficient economies. When José Mujica, the former President of Uruguay, rejected presidential extravagance in favour of personal simplicity, he demonstrated that public office could co-exist with humility. When Angela Merkel governed Germany with disciplined accountability and restraint rather than political theatrics, she earned international respect for stability over spectacle. When Nelson Mandela chose reconciliation over revenge, he showed that moral authority could become a nation’s greatest political asset. I know that some critics may say different continents, different political systems and different historical circumstances, but they shared one defining principle, which was what Peter Obi did when he was the governor of Anambra State,” Akuma said.

The Ebonyi State-born business mogul said that when Obi became the governor of Anambra State in 2006, following prolonged legal battles to reclaim what the courts affirmed as his electoral mandate, he inherited a state emerging from years of political instability, but his administration placed unusual emphasis on fiscal discipline, debt management, investment in education, healthcare, and infrastructure, while consistently advocating prudent management of public resources.

He said the same challenge that Peter Obi faced in 2006 is what Nigeria is going through at the moment, prolonged financial recklessness and mismanagement of human and natural resources, adding that it is somebody with financial discipline like Obi that can solve such a problem.

Akuma said that measured against that standard, Peter Obi has become more than a perennial presidential contender, adding that he has emerged as one of the central figures in Nigeria’s endless debates about leadership, governance, and public accountability.

He said that what nobody can contest, even his haters is the extent to which Obi has altered the language of governance.

According to him, the NDC presidential flag bearer has shifted public discourse from the politics of grand declarations to conversations about measurable outcomes, value for money, prudent budgeting, and responsible stewardship.

Speaking further, he said whether one agrees with his methods or not, he has compelled Nigerians to pay closer attention to how governments spend public resources rather than merely how much it spends.

According to him, part of Obi’s enduring appeal lies in the personal image he has consistently projected. He said that Obi has cultivated a style that contrasts sharply with the culture of official extravagance mostly associated with political office in Nigeria, the more reason why the establishment is not happy with him.

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