TheCals

I am delighted to join The @EmirSirdam Show live this evening for an engaging conversation about Nigeria, our challenges, and the road ahead. I look forward to sharing my thoughts and, more importantly, listening to Nigerians as we continue the conversation about building a New Nigeria that is POssible. Join us live on TikTok: @theemirsirdamshow Time - 8:00 PM WAT | Sunday, 11 October 2026 A New Nigeria is POssible. - PO

Protecting Every Vote. Winning 2027. Together. My fellow Nigerians at home and abroad, Over the past months, wherever I go and in your many messages, two questions keep coming up: How will our votes be protected in 2027? And how will we win? These are fair questions, and you deserve direct answers. This Sunday, I will answer you directly, and more importantly, listen to you. I will join you for A New Nigeria Global Digital Townhall. We will speak plainly about protecting every vote and the path to victory. But this is not only about speaking to you. It is about listening to you. I want to hear your concerns, your insights and your strategies. This movement has always been built by you, and your ideas will shape what we do next. Sunday, October 4, 2026 7:00 PM WAT/GMT | 2 PM EST | 12 PM MST Attendance is by registration: vote4obi.com Let us continue this conversation together. A New Nigeria is POSSIBLE. -PO

ON THE ANAMBRA DEBT QUESTION I have remained silent over the past few days because I have been grieving the loss of my very dear elder brother and friend, Chief Okey Ezeibe. However, the time has come for me to address some of the matters that have occupied public discussion in recent days. I respectfully urge everyone to concentrate on the existential challenges confronting Nigeria and the hardships endured by its citizens, rather than on the needless distractions that have become widespread in our politics. I wish to assure the public that I have no disagreement with my dear elder brother, Governor Soludo, or with any governor in Nigeria. I am not seeking the office of governor in any state, and I will not seek that position again, even if the Constitution is amended. Accordingly, I appeal to governors to support whichever presidential candidate they choose while also permitting and assisting other presidential candidates and contenders for other offices to campaign freely and without interruption in their states. Ultimately, voters should be allowed to determine whom they wish to serve them. Regarding the multilateral funding inaccurately described as “debt owed by Peter Obi” in Anambra State, I wish to state unequivocally: As Governor of Anambra State, I did not approach any financial institution to borrow funds or issue a bond on behalf of the state. Indeed, at his farewell ceremony, the then Director-General of the DMO, Abraham Nwankwo, appointed me chairman and declared that, during his 10 years in office, I was the only state governor who had not approached him for a loan facility. When I left office, the Anambra State Government owed no unpaid salaries, gratuities, or pensions. Neither did it owe any contractor or supplier who had completed work that the government had verified and certified. Regarding development financing from the World Bank, these are concessionary development-support funds secured by the Federal Government for states selected by it to address specific needs. Repayment is spread over 25 to 30 years. The Anambra State Government must therefore differentiate among three separate figures: the total amount approved for the multiyear development program; the amount Anambra State actually drew during my tenure; and the funding balance outstanding when I handed over on 17 March 2014. The government has combined these distinct categories, added them together, and described the resulting US$123.77 million as “loans left by Peter Obi.” That is an incorrect application of public-sector accounting. The eight facilities identified were primarily World Bank and IFAD development programs negotiated by the Federal Government, with participating states receiving access to the funds through subsidiary arrangements. They were not conventional commercial loans that I personally secured during my tenure. This does not suggest that Anambra had no repayment responsibilities; rather, each facility must be examined in light of its approval, effectiveness, drawdown, and repayment record. The clearest contradiction appears in the government’s own figures. It states that the original facilities amounted to approximately US$123.77 million and that US$92.35 million remained outstanding in June 2026. However, the DMO’s published records showed Anambra’s total external debt at approximately US$18 million when I began my tenure in March 2006, about US$30 million in March 2014, when I left office, and approximately US$45.15 million as of 31 December 2014, nine months after my departure. The Anambra State Government must therefore clarify how a state whose recorded external debt was about US$30 million in March 2014 and US$45.15 million in December 2014 could supposedly have inherited US$123.77 million from Peter Obi, who left office in March of that same year.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE: NIGERIA REQUIRES MORE THAN THE END OF CONFLICT As the world observes the International Day of Peace, Nigeria must acknowledge a difficult truth: enduring peace cannot be achieved while citizens continue to face insecurity, hunger, poverty, and despair. Peace means more than the absence of violence. It exists when farmers can travel safely to and from their fields, children can attend school without the threat of abduction, families can afford adequate food, and young people can envision a future in their own country. For this reason, peace must be grounded in effective governance. Governments must safeguard lives, ensure justice, combat corruption, invest in education and healthcare, expand productive opportunities, and manage national resources responsibly. We cannot continue addressing only the visible effects of insecurity while neglecting the circumstances that generate desperation and instability. Every naira misused represents a lost opportunity to strengthen peace. Every citizen left without support reflects a crisis overlooked. Every injustice committed erodes the foundations of peace. Nigeria possesses the resources necessary to become a secure, peaceful, and prosperous nation. What is required is leadership, accountability, and the political will to place the Nigerian people at the centre of governance. On this International Day of Peace, let us pledge to build a Nigeria in which justice is upheld, lives are protected, opportunities are expanded, and every citizen can live with dignity and hope. Responsible governance is the foundation of peace. A new Nigeria is POssible. -PO

Let's begin to give dignity to human lives in our land. The death of 37 persons in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Minna, Niger State, is a deeply troubling tragedy that demands urgent answers. These were persons who had been arrested as suspects. Whatever offence they were suspected of committing, they were still human beings, and the responsibility of the State was to keep them alive, safe, and treated humanely while due process took its course. It is particularly disturbing that so many people could die within a place of detention in such a short period. While investigations are ongoing into the actual cause of these deaths, including reports concerning disease, overcrowding, and inadequate ventilation, Nigerians deserve a transparent, independent, and credible investigation that establishes exactly what happened. This tragedy also reminds us that security is not merely about arresting people. Security is about protecting lives, upholding the dignity of every citizen, and ensuring that the institutions entrusted with our safety operate within the law. A nation cannot claim to value human life when people can enter government custody alive and emerge dead without immediate, transparent, and credible accountability. I extend my deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and urge the authorities to ensure that justice is done. Nigeria must become a country where the rule of law protects every citizen, not only those who are free but also those who are in custody. May God grant the families the strength to bear this painful loss. -PO

Debunking the Phantom Debts and Ecological Loan Fallacy My attention has been drawn to trending claims by the Anambra State Government that my administration left behind inherited debts, including a ₦2 billion ecological loan, contractor liabilities, and unpaid salaries, gratuities, and pensions. This is completely false. We systematically liquidated historical gratuities and arrears dating back several years, amounting to over ₦35 billion. At the point of handover, the state owed nothing in salaries, gratuities, or pensions, nor did we owe anything to any contractor for projects duly executed and certified. The ₦2 billion ecological fund in question was released barely three months before the end of my tenure for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis. Despite pressure to spend the money, I refused, insisting that it should be left for my successor because government is a continuum and the funds were tied to a specific project. The money was therefore left 100 per cent intact in First Bank, in Account No. 2018779464, with a balance of over ₦2.13 billion. It is important to stress that funds tied to specific projects or set aside for particular purposes were not even included in the over ₦75 billion in savings we left behind. If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning. -PO

How Hired Thugs Obstructed My Visit to Benue State Yesterday, I attended the opening of the national campaign office of an opposition presidential candidate, Governor Seyi Makinde in Abuja. My presence was intended to demonstrate that politics can and should be conducted in an atmosphere of mutual respect and civility. As Governor of Anambra State, I made it a point during electioneering to welcome visiting opposition members personally, provided they acted within the ambits of the law. Guided by that same commitment to decency over partisanship, I travelled to Benue this morning, arriving at approximately 9:00 a.m. on a purely humanitarian mission: to visit the grieving families affected by the horrific killings in Yelwata, where over 270 people were massacred. Regrettably, our convoy was prevented from proceeding to the community by thugs chanting, “Peter Obi, go back.” It was deeply distressing to witness such hostility. I came to Benue not for partisan politics, but to mourn with our people, to listen to families who have lost loved ones, and to offer comfort at a moment of unimaginable sorrow. That a mission intended purely to show solidarity, compassion, and support could be obstructed in this manner is deeply alarming. At a time when our nation should be united in grief and resolute in preventing further bloodshed, we must reject any action capable of deepening our divisions. The people of Benue - and all Nigerians - deserve to sleep without fear. They deserve to travel without fear. They deserve to cultivate their land without fear. Above all, they deserve a country where the state places the protection of human life far above political expediency. Although we were unable to reach the community today, our thoughts and prayers remain steadfastly with the victims, their families, and the entire Yelwata community. We shall continue to work until the primary responsibility of government - the safeguarding of every Nigerian life - is restored. Until then, we cannot truly say we have built the nation our people deserve. A New Nigeria is POssible. -PO