Peter Obi said on Saturday that Nigeria will hold free, fair and credible elections in 2027, telling delegates at the Nigeria Democratic Congress national convention that voters will be able to choose their leaders without fear. He also said the country’s deepening hardship is not caused by a lack of resources, but by systemic looting that has pushed millions into poverty, unemployment and insecurity.
“Every Nigerian is worried, no Nigerian know where the next meal will come from. Nigeria is not a poor country, Nigeria is looted into poverty and we will change it,” Obi said at the convention, according to remarks carried in the article from TheCable. He said Nigeria can still overcome its crisis through accountable leadership and a production-driven economy, and added that the country must move away from consumption and build a system that creates jobs and raises living standards.
Obi tied that message to the scale of the country’s misery. He said more than 140 million Nigerians are living in multidimensional poverty, while more than 80 million young people are unemployed or underemployed. He said his decision to join the NDC was driven by a desire to work with like-minded leaders committed to rebuilding Nigeria ahead of the 2027 general election.
“Those who think we will not have free and fair election in 2027, let them rethink now, because in 2027, we are going to have free and fair and credible election,” Obi said. The remarks came as Nigeria’s political class continues to argue over whether the next presidential election can be trusted to reflect the will of voters.
On Sunday, Victor Umeh said the NDC had zoned its 2027 presidential ticket to the South at the party’s convention, with the motion setting the presidency there for four years before reverting to the North in 2031. He said the delegates overwhelmingly backed the proposal and described it as consistent with Nigeria’s north-south power-sharing arrangement.
Umeh also said Obi had long indicated he would serve only one term if elected. “Mr. Obi, for example, started a long time ago to say that he will spend only four years and give way,” he said, adding that in his discussions with Obi, the former Anambra governor had already begun planning how to deliver his promises within four years. “Assuming Nigerians vote for him and he wins, Peter Obi will leave after four years,” Umeh said, likening that choice to Nelson Mandela’s decision to step aside after one term.
The convention and the statements around it have placed Obi squarely in the middle of Nigeria’s 2027 debate: whether the vote will be credible, who the opposition will field and how the country’s regional power balance will shape the race. What Obi is arguing is straightforward enough — that the next election must be open, and that Nigeria’s recovery depends on ending waste, restoring production and giving voters a real choice in 2027.
