Obi pledges to spend presidential holidays across Nigeria if elected

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, has promised to spend his holidays in Nigerian states rather than outside the country if elected president in the 2027 general elections. Obi made the pledge in an Independence Day address delivered in Abuja on Thursday. He said he would use a four-year tenure to travel across Nigeria, meet residents and gain a closer understanding of their problems.

He listed Zamfara, Borno, Kwara, Ebonyi and Edo among the states he intended to visit during presidential holidays, alongside other parts of the country. Obi said the visits would allow him to listen to citizens, understand their challenges and recognise their resilience. The former Anambra governor also pledged to make governance measurable and accountable, with an emphasis on the welfare and productivity of Nigerians.

He said citizens would begin to see the effects of what he described as purposeful leadership within the first year of his administration. Obi promised decisive action against insecurity, saying farmers should be able to return to their farms, children go back to school and businesses operate without fear. He added that no Nigerian should be compelled to live in an internally displaced persons camp because the government had failed to provide security.

He criticised the All Progressives Congress-led administration, saying Nigeria continued to face poverty, out-of-school children, terrorism, banditry and kidnapping despite promises made in 2023. Obi argued that the central problem was not a shortage of resources but the failure to turn them into human development, productivity, security and shared prosperity. The candidate referred to a recent visit to Sokoto State with his running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso.

He said consultations there focused on insecurity, poverty, unemployment, drug abuse and children outside school, while a visit to an IDP camp in Ramin Kura exposed the hardship faced by displaced women and children. Obi had made a similar argument about presidential holidays a month earlier, saying the president should remain in Nigeria during such periods and visit areas facing severe security and developmental challenges.