Obi is a trader, can’t fix Nigeria — Oshiomhole

Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has dismissed the leadership credentials of the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi, arguing that the former Anambra State governor lacks the long-term vision required to govern Nigeria.

Speaking during an interview on TVC News on Monday, the former Edo State governor described Mr Obi as “a trader” whose background, he claimed, is shaped by short-term profit considerations rather than long-term national planning.

“Obi is a trader. Traders have short-term calculations. They are not into long-term projections. They are not wired to think of what the situation will be in the long run,” Mr Oshiomhole said.

The former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, also dismissed Obi’s pledge to serve only one term if elected president in 2027, describing his promise to transform Nigeria within four years as unrealistic.

According to Mr Oshiomhole, Mr Obi could not credibly promise to fix Nigeria in a single term when, in his view, he did not accomplish all he set out to achieve during his eight-year tenure as governor of Anambra State.

“Do you really believe that anybody whose business is for real, who couldn’t fix a state in four years, he worked hard in eight years, he didn’t fix it, is telling you and me at our age that he just needs four years? That is the height of desperation,” he said.

The senator also argued that Obi’s strong performance in the 2023 presidential election was largely a product of widespread public anger over the economic policies implemented under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to him, the APC government was weighed down by unpopular policies, particularly the naira redesign programme and the fuel scarcity that preceded the general election, creating an atmosphere that favoured Obi’s candidacy.

“Obi was produced by an unusual situation when a ruling party decided to destroy itself, making anybody running on its platform almost unelectable. It was that confusion that produced those votes,” Mr Oshiomhole said.

The former president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, said millions of Nigerians became frustrated after being unable to access cash despite having money in their bank accounts, adding that the hardship fuelled voter dissatisfaction.

“Someone asked why people would queue all night to withdraw N5,000, then queue again for fuel, and still expect them to queue on election day to vote for the same government. That anger was what produced Obi,” he said.

Mr Oshiomhole maintained that Nigerians had already become disillusioned with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, but that the cash crunch and fuel shortages further deepened public resentment against the ruling APC ahead of the election.

He recalled a conversation with a constituent who lamented the difficulties caused by the cash scarcity.

“A woman in my village told me, ‘You said I should keep my money in the bank, but when I went to collect it, they said there was no money. At the POS, they deducted N2,000 from N5,000. How do I survive?’” he recounted.

The lawmaker, however, insisted that the policies that triggered the hardship were not part of the APC’s political agenda.

“I told her what Buhari was doing at that time was not APC policy. It was that anger that influenced the outcome of the election,” Mr Oshiomhole said.