A member of the Obidient Movement, Kennedy Iyere, has claimed that the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi did not found the popular political movement that rallied around his 2023 presidential ambition. Instead, he insists, it was a collective of ordinary Nigerians who created, drove, and promoted the movement—only later adopting Obi as its symbol.

Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, Iyere rejected claims that Obi was the architect of the Obidient Movement, arguing that he only became its face after the groundwork had already been laid by everyday Nigerians disillusioned with the political status quo.

“There’s something I want to correct,” Iyere began. “Peter Obi didn’t form the Obidient Movement. We formed, drove, funded, galvanised, and bequeathed it to him.

“We promoted and projected it into the limelight. So he is the symbol. But the architect that actually drew up the whole of that plan, we were the ones. Nigerians who were not comfortable with the trend of things, who dared to challenge the status quo.”

According to Iyere, the movement predated Obi’s defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Labour Party. “Obi was still in the PDP when we started calling out for him to come and take his place,” he said, noting that several grassroots groups like POSN and Take Back Naija were already mobilising for change before the Obidient identity was coined.

While acknowledging that the term “Obidients” became widely recognised because of Obi’s name, Iyere stressed that the power behind the movement was far bigger than any single individual. “It has translated itself from a democratic platform to a fanatical movement. Nigeria has a lot of good people who can come out. It must not be Obi,” he said.

Iyere also made it clear that he personally does not intend to support Obi in any future election, stating: “We gave Obi all the support he needed from us in 2023. For me, I’m not supporting him. I have my reasons. It’s a democracy.”

He further questioned the authenticity of a newly formed coalition claiming to represent the Obidient Movement, describing it as inauthentic and not reflective of the original grassroots energy that propelled Obi into the political limelight.

He stated, “That coalition, for me, is not authentic.” (AriseNews TV)