Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi has blamed the widespread poverty and misery in Nigeria on the corruption and wastefulness of the President Bola Tinubu administration and preceding administrations.
Obi who made the statement in Port Harcourt during a Town Hall meeting by the NDC observed that despite a 4.43% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in Q2 2026, the country was still grappling rising poverty and high cost of living.
He was speaking at the ‘Obi Talks Nigeria: Port Harcourt Town Hall,’ alongside Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, his running mate, Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, NDC National Chairman and Dumo Lulu-Briggs, Rivers State Governorship candidate of the party.
“We are committed to the Nigerian state and we will use Nigerian money effectively for Nigeria. And I’ll give you an example”, Obi told thousands of Rivers citizens, members of the Hausa and Igbo communities in the state and traditional rulers, at the meeting.
He added; “When we talk about health care, we are promised that in four years we will ensure that functional and proper health care will be provided in every of our ward, we have today 8,809 wards.
But we are promising that we will have 10,000 functional primary healthcare (centres).
“Today in Nigeria, we have nearly 25,000, about 25,000 people with kidney problems.
We have explosion in cancer because of the food people eat. We are going to do prevention. We have less than 10 functional cancer centers. I assure you that we will ensure that that is increased to at least 50.”
He explained that, “the maximum you need to have a proper health care center is about 100 million Naira. So for 10,000, all you need is a trillion. Look at how much money they are making today.”
Obi placed the cost of establishing over 20 cancer centers at as much as N350 billion, adding that, “That is the amount our president used to buy new planes. That plane has no value, except that we are paying more money to keep it. He has gone to Europe now. That plane will park there. We are paying parking fees, we are paying maintenance, we are paying everything.
“That is not the country that is in need. He has spent a total of nearly N40-billion in all his trips in the past 2 years. In 2025, money released for Ministry of Health was N36-million. For capital projects in Ministry of Health, it’s N36 million. When our president has spent that N17-billion traveling, that N6-million is 0.01% of that N17-billion. We must stop this waste. What we want to do now is to dismantle this waste and criminality.
“And I am pledging to you today that I will dismantle that. It is time for you to go. This country belongs to you. It doesn’t belong to them. You must not insist. You don’t need rights.
“Today, our minimum wage is a bag of rice. Meanwhile, people in government are living as if they came from somewhere. This is the time to stop it. You will stop it,” Obi said.
He echoed earlier comments by his running mate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who had stressed that the Kwankwasiyya Movement, which he leads, and the Obidients will form the NDC’s structure and defense of votes cast in 2027.
The NDC Presidential candidate dismissed fears over intimidation of voters at the polling units and manipulation of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s iRev, adding that he is equally ready to defend the votes in 2027.
He further took a swipe at the political situation in Rivers State, describing all the things that are happening in the state as intimidation, “Nobody should be talking as if the state belongs to him.
Nobody should be talking as if Nigeria belongs to them. For us, we want to be friends of everybody. And we will serve people”, he said.
While possibly reacting to fears expressed by Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that he could become target for arrest in 2027 if Tinubu loses re-election, Obi allayed fears that he would intimidate opposition if elected.
He said, “If you say, ‘Oh, if Peter Obi comes to government, they’ll be victim,’ let me assure you, no Nigerian will be victim when we come. Every Nigerian will be Nigerian. Our commitment is to the youth of Nigeria so they can put food on their table and get jobs. We want to stop the abuse of Nigeria because this abuse is taking revenge on our youth.”
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