Yesterday, I joined other presidential candidates to sign the first National Peace Accord for the 2027 Presidential Elections.
*Obi
My signing of the accord is a reinforcement of my continued commitment to insisting that we, as candidates, must conduct ourselves in a way that reflects the office we aspire to. Leaders must eschew all forms of violent rhetoric and rein in their followers to do the same.
By Adekunle Adekoya
Again, the matter of fuel subsidy has dominated national discourse in the last few days, with President Bola Tinubu, former vice-president and ADC presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, NDC presidential candidate Mr Peter Obi and a host of others have had not a little to say about the issue.
The matter was reignited when Alhaji Atiku Abubakar said that if he should be elected, he would return subsidy on fuel energy. Expectedly, presidency officials descended on him, and in the exchanges that followed, harsh, near-uncivil words were used. The exchanges went as far as dredging up the matter of over $16 billion spent on the power sector during the Obasanjo administration. It just shows how deeply the issue of subsidy is affecting lives.
In recent days, deadly attacks have struck Benue, Plateau and Niger States, three contiguous states in Nigeria’s North-Central region.
In Mangu, Plateau State, at least 23 people were officially reported killed in the Jwak Maitumbi attack, while residents put the toll above 30. More than 45 houses were reportedly destroyed.
I had the privilege of joining some presidential candidates and their representatives as a guest and panellist at the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
*Peter Obi speaking at the NBA conference in Port Harcourt
Our discussion focused on how to rebuild Nigeria and make it
work for its resilient, hardworking, and long-suffering people.
I reiterated my long-held view that the poverty and hunger Nigerians face today are largely the result of years of mismanagement and corruption by leaders entrusted with our commonwealth.
A nation that tolerates unverified academic credentials at any level of leadership, regardless of who is involved, risks destroying the very standards upon which a society is built. The issue is not about an individual. It is about standards, accountability, and the values we choose to pass on to the next generation.
We cannot continue to excuse blurred, missing, questionable, or unverified credentials simply because they belong to someone we support. The process through which people attain positions of responsibility matters greatly. How we get into leadership is as important as what we do with leadership.
The killings in Ungushi, Sokoto, where 32 Nigerians reportedly lost their lives, and the recent attacks in Ukum, Benue, where more lives have been lost and several others injured, are deeply painful.
These are not just numbers. They are parents, children, farmers,
and breadwinners whose lives have been cut short, leaving families devastated
and communities in fear.
We cannot continue with a cycle of killings, condolences, promises, and inaction. The government at all levels must prioritise addressing insecurity.
MY ADDRESS TO MARK THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE 2027 PRESIDENTIAL AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CAMPAIGNS
21 August 2026
Dear Compatriots,
Members of the Press,
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen.
Wednesday, 19 August 2026, marked the official start of the campaign period for the 2027 Presidential and National Assembly elections.
There is no doubt that this is a defining moment for our democracy. This moment gives Nigerians the opportunity to assess the records, ideas, and plans of those seeking their mandate to lead their country at a time of grave uncertainty in our rapidly changing world.
I consider myself quite privileged to be one of those seeking your mandate to deal with these challenges facing our country.
I enter this contest with one firm conviction: Nigeria can work,
and Nigeria must work.
Nigeria faces several serious challenges. Some of them are indeed of existential proportions.
The tragic news of yet another round of killings in Benue and Plateau States is both painful and deeply disturbing. The reported murder of at least sixteen innocent Nigerians in the Otukpo-Nobi community of Benue State, alongside the horrific killing of nine members of the same family, a two-month-old baby, in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, once again reminds us that the relentless cycle of bloodshed in parts of our country has persisted for far too long.
For years, families in Benue, Plateau and other communities across Nigeria have lived under the constant shadow of fear, violence and displacement. Mothers have buried their children, children have become orphans overnight, farmers have abandoned their lands, and entire communities have been left devastated. We cannot continue to accept this tragic cycle as though it were normal. It is not.
By Chuks Iloegbunam
Lend me your ears. Please! Anyone who believes, even for a millisecond, that what the rapers of our commonwealth plan for January 2027 are general elections has already lost tragically. Such a loser will be served this mocking injunction of “Go to court!” But on the Benches all across the nation’s courthouses, the betrayed petitioner against a stolen mandate will find, not brave and honest adjudicators, but the carcasses of sneering tramplers of the law who, with election riggers, are like six and half-a-dozen.
The aggregated submissions of the very best Senior Advocates of Nigeria can never and will never move them to give justice a chance. The odds are stacked against seekers of truth in contention with all Four Estates of the Realm mired in sin and corruption. It bears repeating that what the skin-headed, potbellied, knock-kneed and collapsible despoilers of the communal pond have in store for long-suffering Nigerians in January is nothing other than electoral abracadabra. The more you look, the less you see.
N8.83 trillion is as follows:
1.About 2% of our GDP.
2.Over 35% of Nigeria’s 2025
N23.96 trillion capital project budget. In fact, the amount is more than the
actual released capital funding for 2025.
3.It is more than the entire combined budget for education (N3.52 trillion) and health (N2.38 trillion).
By Olu Fasan
Last week, on June 26, Justice Isah Dashen of the Federal High Court, Lokoja, caused a huge judicio-political stir when he set aside his December 10, 2025, judgement ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to register the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, as a political party.
The ruling effectively deregisters the party. Having thoroughly read the Certified True Copy, CTC, of the judgement, I believe the judge’s action amounted to judicial recklessness and vandalism, which risks truncating Nigeria’s fragile democracy.
If that sounds hyperbolic, then consider the wider implication of Justice Dashen’s ruling. The judge ordered that NDC’s substantive suit, which gave rise to the December 2025 ruling in its favour, “shall revert to the stage it occupied immediately before the delivery of the judgement set aside herein.” In other words, based on the extant ruling, there’s currently no court order on INEC to recognise NDC as a political party, and INEC can revert to its original position before December 10, 2025, when it refused to do so.
By Emeka Alex Duru
Make no mistakes about it; democracy
is not a sure bet for emergence of good leaders. It is also not a guarantee for
good governance. But it allows the electorate a voice on how they are governed
and grants them the freedom of choice and participation in the affairs of the
state, at least, ideally.
It is this people-content that separates democracy from other forms of government. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was therefore right in defining democracy as the government of the people, for the people, by the people. Take away the people-factor, it is no longer democracy, no matter how benevolent it may seem. A system that is shorn of democracy, is an aberration. But then, democracy, if not properly managed and protected by the relevant checks, can be abused by even elected leaders. This is part of the reasons why every Nigerian must ensure that the current democracy in the land, is not truncated.
This question has become necessary, given where we are today as a nation and where we are supposed to be.
While completing my INEC nomination form yesterday, Section E, Question 1 caught my attention. It asks: “Have you ever been adjudged a lunatic or been declared a person of unsound mind?”
The answer is either Yes or No. That question got me thinking: Can we, as the political leaders of today’s Nigeria, truly say we are exhibiting the characteristics of a sound mind?
When Nigerians, including children and security personnel, are being abducted into the bushes, citizens cannot travel safely on our highways, several million Nigerians are uncertain where their next meal will come from, and several billions are being siphoned frivolously through non-existent agencies and projects, should politics really be our primary preoccupation?
A sound-minded leadership would have declared these existential challenges a national emergency and immediately mobilised all relevant institutions, security agencies, experts, community leaders, and other critical stakeholders to confront them with urgency and resolve. At a moment like this, the survival, security, and stability of Nigeria must take precedence over every other consideration. This is a time for decisive action, not political calculation or the pursuit of partisan advantage.
Further in the same Section E, Question 6, was: “Have you ever presented a forged certificate to INEC?” Again, the answer is either Yes or No. This raises another important question: Why shouldn’t INEC, in the interest of ensuring that our leaders are exemplary in following the rules and to strengthen public confidence in our electoral process, publish the academic certificates and credentials submitted by every candidate seeking elective office?
Transparency strengthens democracy and builds public trust. Nigeria’s problems are too serious for politics as usual. It is time for leadership defined by competence, character, capacity, compassion, and commitment to service.
A New Nigeria is POssible.
- PO
This vision is anchored on a commitment to unity, inclusion, social justice, equity, and the freedom of every citizen to pursue lawful dreams.
There is a pertinent reason I have consistently advocated that we should refrain from initiating new road construction projects until we have thoroughly rehabilitated and maintained our existing road network.
Instead of undertaking new ventures and dualization projects that offer marginal benefits, our primary focus ought to be on repairing the critical roads already in place.
By Valentine Obienyem
Peter Obi’s political journey in Nigeria has, in many ways, come to resemble a quiet but persistent carrying of a cross - marked by endurance, conviction, and a deep commitment to principle in the face of resistance. From his emergence on the national stage to his current role as a leading voice in public discourse, he stands as the personification of a stoic political faith, proving that the cost of integrity is high, but the price of its absence is the slow decay of the soul of a nation.
That burden did not begin on the national stage, the Champion’s League; it can be traced to the local league, his tenure as governor of Anambra State, where Peter Obi first defined the principles that now shape his political identity. In a system often marked by political brigandage, he distinguished himself through fiscal discipline, transparency, adherence to due process, and a refusal to personalise public resources.
By Aguiyi Joseph Obinna
In a courtesy visit to the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism in Ilorin on Tuesday, retired President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, unleashed yet another round of unverified political commentary that has once again exposed his fatally flawed character. According to the Vanguard report, Salami declared that Peter Obi “ought not have been allowed to contest the 2023 presidential election” because, in his words, “by the time he lost the PDP primary, LP had submitted its list of members to INEC” and the Constitution forbids independent candidacy.
He drew a parallel with Kano Governor Abba Yusuf and blamed “incompetence” and “bad eggs” among judges for these “wrong verdicts.” This is not the sober reflection of a retired jurist; it is the reckless rant of a man who has repeatedly been shown the door by the same judiciary he now seeks to ridicule, only to be pitied back into relevance.
This is the painful reality confronting our nation. From Zamfara State to Kwara, Ondo, Kebbi, Edo, Benue, Adamawa, Plateau, and many other states, families have buried loved ones, and communities have been emptied by gunshots and fear.
By Promise Adiele
This essay is not intended to elaborate on Nigeria’s socio-political and economic regression or to emphasize the potential of a new socio-political beginning. It does not attempt to achieve a consensus about the more suitable quintessential habitation between City and Village.
By Olufemi Aduwo
There is no democratic or constitutional argument against Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s right to seek the office of the President of Nigeria. In a republic governed by law rather than sentiment, political ambition does not expire with age and the ballot remains open to all who meet the formal requirements.
Atiku may, if he so desires, contest for office even at the age of one hundred. That, however, is not the question confronting Nigeria as 2027 approaches. The real issue is not eligibility, but judgement; not entitlement, but wisdom; not ambition, but its consequences for national cohesion. Politics, as Edmund Burke reminded us, is a discipline of discernment rather than dogma. Rights may be absolute, but their exercise is always conditioned by circumstance.
