Peter Obi promises measurable governance if elected Nigeria’s president

Presidential candidate Peter Obi has pledged to make governance measurable, accountable and focused on the welfare and productivity of Nigerians if elected. In an Independence Day address on Thursday, the Nigeria Democratic Congress candidate said citizens would begin to see the tangible effects of what he called purposeful and effective leadership within his first year as president. Obi said his administration would prioritise insecurity, education, healthcare and productive enterprise.

He promised to confront insecurity so farmers could safely return to their land, children could attend school, businesses could operate freely and families could live without fear. He also said Nigerians displaced by insecurity should be able to return to their communities safely and with dignity. Obi referred to conditions he said he witnessed during a recent two-day visit to Sokoto State with Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, including at an internally displaced persons camp in Ramin Kura.

The candidate said the camp’s residents should instead be living in their own communities, farming, attending school and contributing to the economy. He described the situation as representative of hardships elsewhere in Nigeria and said political leaders had failed the country’s children. Obi pledged to move Nigeria away from what he described as a consumption-driven economy towards one focused on jobs, agriculture, manufacturing, human capital and opportunity.

He said education, healthcare, security and productive enterprise should be treated as foundations rather than luxuries. He also promised to strengthen accountability, competence and justice in government and said he would spend his holidays in different Nigerian states rather than abroad if elected. Obi called on citizens to demand accountability, saying the country’s future would require leadership that treats public office as a trust and citizens who refuse to accept failure as inevitable.