Peter Gregory Obi popularly known as Peter Obi is a politician, and businessman. He is the presidential candidate of the February 2023 presidential election under the flagship of Labour Party (LP). He was a two time governor of Anambra State and the former director of Next International (UK) Limited.
He is the face behind the Obidient movement and a beacon of hope for the younger generation of Nigerians.
Peter Obi Early Life and Education
Peter Obi was born on 19 July 1961 in Onitsha Anambra State. His parents Josephat Obi (father) and Mrs Agnes Obi (mother) have five children. They are Bibiana Adani, Ndibe Obi, Fabian Obi, Martina Obi and Peter Obi.
Peter Obi grew up in a devout Christian home and till this day he is a practicing catholic. He had his educational background in Onitsha. Peter Obi attended Christ the King College, Onitsha where he acquired his secondary school certificate.
In 1980 he gained admission to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka where he studied philosophy. In the year 1984 he graduated from UNN with a B.A in philosophy. He pursued further studies outside the shores of the country and was able to bag a degree from Harvard Business school in Boston, Massachusetts.
He also studied Financial Management/Business Policy at the London School of Economics. Peter also has a degree from Columbia Business School in New York where he studied Marketing Management. His love for knowledge is what has propelled him to embark on all these academic pursuit.
Peter Obi’s Early Career
Peter Obi started out as a businessman dealing in trades before he ventured into the banking industry. He has held several leadership positions in different cooperate establishment. He was the youngest chairman at Fidelity Bank Plc.
He also served as the chairman and Director of Guardian Express Mortgage Bank Ltd, Next International Nigeria Ltd, Guardian Express Bank Plc, Future View Securities Ltd, Paymaster Nigeria Ltd, Chams Nigeria Ltd, Data Corp Ltd and Card Centre Ltd.
Peter Obi’s Personal Life
Peter Obi is married to Margaret Brownson Obi (née Usen). They got married in 1992 and they have two children, One male and one female. Their names are Gregory Peter Oseloka Obi and Gabriella Nwamaka Frances Obi
Peter Obi’s Political Career
In 2003 Peter Obi contested for the position of the governor of Anambra state under All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) party. His opponent Chris Ngige of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He sort redress in court and after nearly three years of litigation Chris Ngige’s victory was overturned by the court of appeal on 15 March 2006. Peter Obi then resumed office as the governor of Anambra state in 17 March 2006.
Almost eight months after he resumed office Peter Obi was impeached by the state house of assembly. This event occurred on the 2 November 2006. He was replaced by his then deputy Virginia Etiaba, making her the first female governor in Nigeria.
Peter Obi again took to the court to challenge his impeachment and after some legal battle he won the case and was re-instated as the governor on 9 February 2007 by the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu.
His position was again taken from him on 29 May 2007 after the governorship election was conducted and declared in Andy Uba’s favour. Obi once again sort redress from the court arguing that the four-year tenure he had won in the 2003 elections only started to run when he took office in March 2006.
He won the case in the Supreme court on the 14 June 2007 and was reinstated as the Governor of Anambra State. The supreme court agreed with Obi’s argument that his tenure was to run until March 2010. The election that saw Andy Uba rise to power was nullified by the court.
Peter Obi contested for a second term in office in 2010 under APGA. He was declared winner of the election by INEC on 7 February 2010. He defeated his opponent Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo former governor of CBN. His win saw him serve the people of Anambra for another four years.
Peter Obi handed the governorship position to Willie Obiano after the latter won the gubernatorial election. This event took place on the 17 March 2014, when Obi had completed his four years tenure.
Shortly after leaving office in 2014, Peter Obi decamped from the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). He was later appointed as the chairman of the Nigerian Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) by the then President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.
In 2019 Peter Obi contest for the position of the vice President of Nigeria along side his presidential aspirant Atiku Abubakar under the PDP. The election was won by President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Atiku and Peter Obi came second.
The Obidient Movement
Peter Obi declared his interest to run for the President of Nigeria on 24 March 2022, under the platform of the PDP. He faced opposition from other aspirants including his former running mate Atiku Abubakar.
After much political tussle Peter Obi announced that he would be leaving the PDP to the Labour Party where he intend to run for presidency. It would seem as his decision to leave the PDP propelled him to be admired and accepted by the younger generations of Nigerians.
The decision to leave a party that the younger generation of Nigerian citizens consider marred with corruption brought about more hope and trust in Peter Obi. Lots of Nigerian youths actively showed their support for Peter Obi’s presidential bid. Activist like Aisha Yesufu who is the cofounder of the #BringBackOurGirls movement joined his campaign team.
Peter and Paul Okoye popularly called P-Square has actively voiced their support of his candidacy. Comedian Mr Macaroni, AY, Kate Henshaw, Kenneth Okonkwo and other top celebrities have also expressed their support for him.
Obi’s supporters had kicked off the campaign trail even before official campaign started with a series of One Million Man Marches in several Nigerian cities. They had tagged themselves Obidient and clamored for Peter Obi to become the president. The march had seen very massive turnout especially from the youths. Supporters of Peter Obi calls themselves Obidient and they believe the a new Nigeria is Possible with him as their president.
Peter Obi subsequently kickstarted his campaign trail and announced Senator Yusuf Datti Bab-Ahmed as his running mate. Prior to the announcement it was rumored that Peter Obi wanted to pick Senator Shehu Sani as his running mate.
His campaign was hugely successful and it experienced large turnout of Nigerians especially the youths. During the campaign the Obidient movement was highly popularized and till this day Peter Obi’s supporters call themselves Obidients
The Presidential Election
On 25 February 2023, the presidential Election was held and on the 1 March 2023, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progress Congress Party (APC) was declared the winner with 8.79 million votes.. Atiku Abubakar of PDP came in second and Peter Obi third with 6.1 million votes.
Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar both rejected the result citing election malpractice. Peter Obi has stated that he believes he won the election and would be challenging the result in court. The case has been filled in court and we await the verdict.
Peter Obi’s Net Worth
Peter Obi is estimated to have $10 million according to Business Insider and Forbes. His wealth comes from his business, career in the finance sector and his tenure as the Governor of Anambra state.
Peter Obi’s Awards
Peter Obi has numerous awards during the course of his work in the private sector as well as his position as the governor. They include.
- The Sun‘s Man of the Year (2007)
- This Day‘s Most Prudent Governor in Nigeria (2009)
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Best Performing Governor on Immunization in South-East Nigeria (2012)
- Silverbird’s Man of the Year (2013)
- Distinguished Alumnus Award – Lagos Business School Alumni Association (LBSAA) (2014)
- Nigerian Library Association’s Golden Merit Award (2014)
- Pontifical Equestrian Order of Saint Sylvester Pope and Martyr (2014)
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha’s Golden Jubilee Award (2015)
- This Day‘s Governor of the Decade (2020)
- Leadership Excellence Award’s Man of the Year (2022)