As coalition negotiations among opposition political parties intensify, the ObidientMovement has issued a stern warning: it will withdraw from the alliance if its principal, Peter Obi, is not selected as the coalition’s presidential candidate.
The movement, known for its strong grassroots support and mobilization prowess, insists that only Peter Obi has the credibility, competence, and nationwide appeal to unseat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which it accuses of failing to meet the expectations of Nigerians.
In this exclusive interview with THE WHISTLER’s Isuma Mark, the National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement, Dr. Yunusa Tanko—who also served as the chief spokesperson for the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Organisation in the 2023 elections—defended Obi’s candidacy and made serious case why it must be him or no one else.
Excerpts…
WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE OBEDIENT MOVEMENT? IT APPEARS EVERYTHING IS JUST SO SLOW NOW. IS THERE CONFUSION, OR WHAT’S HAPPENING?
Oh, well, I don’t think there’s confusion. I think the most vibrant group of individuals as of today has been the Obedient Movement.
Since we took over, or gave a face to the Obedient Movement, we have started with ensuring that we have a National Coordinating Council, which is already up and running. And then we had directorate levels, which are also running about nine directorates, ICT, and all. Then we have what we call Regional Adversary Advocacy, in four of the six zones of the Federation.
And the last programme we did was in Lagos, which came with the introduction of the registration portal of the Obedient Movement in Kano, in Gombe, and in Onitsha. We’ve already had an adversary programme. And then we had what we call Zonal Meet and Greet that happened in Enugu.
And gradually now, out of the 36 states of the Federation, we have now 29 states already established leadership, already up and running. So, you see, we’ve been very busy, as the case may be. And then we’ve been trying to make sure that all the Obedients respond to issues as we move along.
So, each of the states now are coasting down into the local government to ensure that we cover the 176,000 polling units, as it were. So, the Obedient Movement has not been quiet, and we’ve been talking and we’ve been active. We have shifted now from being on social media to physically being on the ground.
You know, social media is a convergence place. We converge, but we trickle down now to physical coming together as a people. So, we are up and running.
HOW DO YOU RECONCILE THIS? THERE’S THE COALITION TALK GOING ON, THE CRISIS IN THE LABOUR PARTY, YOUR MOVEMENT IS UP AND RUNNING, AS YOU’VE JUST SAID. WHERE DOES YOUR PRINCIPAL PETER OBI STAND IN ALL OF THESE?
Well, you know, Peter Obi is a man being sought after.
Yesterday we were in Minna. We visited the people of Niger State on the mishap of the flood. We also had an interaction with the governor of Taraba State on the killings that happened in Jalingo and in the suburb.
So, you see, he’s an up and running person. He just came back from London, but he went straight to Minna. I find it really difficult to see any politician that has been able to meet all of these needs within a short period of time.
On the issue of the coalition, it is individual candidates coming together to discuss the way forward for Nigeria, considering the hunger in the land, the lack of security, and the issue of the economy affecting every Nigerian at the moment.
So, the coalition is about individuals coming to discuss with each other, trying to find a solution to the issue of pulling people out of poverty, talking about education, talking about security, talking about the economy, and then talking about how Nigeria would be viewed in the international community.
And these are the major issues that have been discussed among others. But I can tell you that there’s no major talk within the political parties. Most probably all the political parties are having one issue or the other. So, in order to avoid that and not to be stagnant, it is good that we talk to each other and see how best we approach these issues that are affecting the people negatively.
THERE WILL BE AN ARGUMENT THAT IT’S HAPHAZARD AND DISORGANISED BECAUSE YOU HAVE LESS THAN ONE YEAR TO THE PRIMARY ELECTION YET NO UNIFIED COALITION APPROACH…
You will also agree with me that in politics you cannot be too forward as a person, but you let what you are doing speak for itself.
Like in the case of Peter Obi, everybody can agree to the fact that he’s been up and running from everywhere. Since the last election in 2023, he’s been the only candidate that has been doing so much for us and been challenging the government as an opposition. No wonder the governor of Bauchi State termed him as the leader of the opposition of the moment.
So, at the point of you discussing and showing what you are capable of doing, it becomes obvious that at the point where the decision will be made as to who will fly the flag, there will be a conjecture at that point. But at this point, we should be talking about what is disturbing the Nigerian people. We need to show empathy, and that’s exactly what Peter Obi is showing.
You can see him at the almajiri school, you see him in nursing school, you see him on the street, trying to look at the needs of the people. So, at this point in time, there is no gain saying that we need to connect with the people first before you start thinking about how to govern them. If you don’t know their needs, you will not be able to.
At this point, they are discussing with each other, trying to find the exact way of how, what platform, who and who will run, and how we are going to run. We must discuss with each other first. That is exactly what is taking place now.
FROM SDP TO ADC, THEN A CALL FOR REGISTRATION OF NEW PLATFORM, WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING IN THIS COALITION? IT APPEARS THERE IS NO LEADER?
Obviously at the moment, there are leaders. You just mentioned Peter Obi, you mentioned Atiku Abubakar, Mala Nasir El-Rufai, there is a former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi. There are quite a number of them, huge numbers. Before, there were no names like this being attached to anyone. That’s to tell you there is progress being made about people converging to discuss with each other.
At this point, the coalition leadership has already been established and they are talking on how best to go about it. It’s a different ball game that they were not even converging at all. Everybody was in separate ways. The political parties have not started talking to each other. Any political party that you see right now is only mobilizing for its own political party. You’ve not seen party A or party B discussing with each other unlike what happened when we were leading the issue of a merger and an alliance. We’ve led one before and we had about five political parties discussing with each other. These political parties were ADP, ZLP, PRP, SDP, and then there was one more political party at that time who were discussing with one another. Two of them agreed for a merger. Two agreed for a coalition, or more or less, a rainbow alliance. Then the other political party, which is PRP, refused for a merger, neither, or an alliance. That was what caught up with us.
But in this case, it is the individual candidates that are discussing with each other. So, within a short period of time, they will end up agreeing and say this is the political party that we want to use as a platform. So, time is still on our side, because it’s not like the merger of the APC that people are expecting that five political parties will merge with each other. There’s a difference between a merger and an alliance. A merger means that you submit all your documents and then you have a new political party. An alliance means that A, B, C come, let’s share power together. Let’s discuss with each other, then we’ll agree. In this case, it’s neither of the two.
It is one political party that people are thinking of. Let’s pick one and go into it. You understand? It’s a different ball game entirely. So, when they finish agreeing on the motives or priorities, and then they will take the vehicle that they want to use, then they will be able to give a directive to their members. So, what we are doing in order to merge this particular conglomerate together is to provide the enabling environment, provide the workforce.
The Obedient Movement is going to be the source of strength. As far as Obidient Movement is concerned, anyway, we are going to make sure that we have all of our structures in every nook and corner. So. when we imagine what has been given, we are ready to infuse.
ASSUMING PETER OBI DOES NOT EMERGE AS A CANDIDATE OF THE COALITION, WILL YOU PUSH THE OBEDIENT MOVEMENT IN FAVOUR OF THE COALITION?
That will be the decision that he (Obi) will make, and he will make a pronouncement. He is the leader of the Obidient Movement. When he gives the directive, we follow as his disciples.
THE ARGUMENT IS THAT IT IS THE TURN OF THE SOUTH. DOES THAT GIVE HIM THE LEVERAGE OVER OTHERS IN THAT COALITION TALKS?
Well, it’s an added advantage, considering the fact that there’s no constitutional provisions that say there’s a North and South. There is none. But there is a mutual understanding that it should be North and South. At the moment, it is Southern leadership that is leading the country.
So, it becomes natural that whoever wants to challenge the status quo should be a Southerner, naturally. And so that is where the advantage comes to His Excellency Peter OBI, whose section of the South has not ruled this country. So, it is clearer for us to unite this country and say, look, it is not just four years. These people, you have never even served us. Come and serve us. Let’s see how your capacity will run like.
So as far as we are concerned, we think he just fits in perfectly well at this point in time to provide leadership and, again, to unite this country. That way, the agitation for separatism, the agitation for incapacity is now being filled because we are looking for people who have capacity, who have consistency, who have character and credibility, who can be accountable to the people at every point in time. We need somebody who is clean, who has not been accused of A, B, C, so that when he fits in, he fits in well and he can provide the enabling ground for future development of the country.
BUT PETER OBI’s LEADERSHIP STYLE HAS BEEN CALLED TO QUESTION, PARTICULARLY WHEN YOU SEE SENATORS ON THE PLATFORM OF THE LABOUR PARTY LEAVING, HOUSE MEMBERS DEFECTING. WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT HIS LEADERSHIP STYLE?
You see, this is where you know a person as a democrat who believes in a democracy. Unfortunately, we have an electoral act which became the enabler for people like that to leave that particular system.
If the electoral act had been clear as it got to, you cannot take the manifesto of party A and sell it to party B without making records of you leaving the seats. That will have stopped a lot of people because what we have right now is that the electoral act has a lacuna. We say that if you have any problem in your party, you can leave.
Morally and ethically, it is wrong. And that is exactly what the electoral act has given them as an enabling environment for them to move from party A to party B. But for us, as Obidient, it gives us room to actually know those who are with us and those who are against us. The kind of person that Peter Obi is, is a different political dynamic that we’ve never seen. We are used to spending money, buying people’s votes, which we cannot match with these particular people. They’ve already stolen Nigeria to a point of stupor.
So. It’s those particular people that you want to deal with? They have an unprecedented kind of money. They can buy a human being while he’s even standing. But that does not mean that they can buy your soul. But at this point in time, we need people who have character.
So, for us, as a people, we’ve already identified those who don’t have character. And most of them leverage on Peter Obi before they become what they are, electorally. So, tomorrow, do you think me and others who believe in Peter Obi will vote for them? Obviously no. So, wait and see. At that particular point in time, when they’ve left. It’s not about Peter Obi. Peter Obi’s character is not put in question here. It is the character of those particular people that has been put in question.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE 2023 ELECTION, A SECTION OF THE COUNTRY DID NOT VOTE FOR PETER OBI, THEY DID NOT AGREE WITH HIS CANDIDACY. WHAT IS IT HE IS DOING DIFFERENTLY THAT WILL ENDEAR HIM TO THIS SECTION OF THE COUNTRY?
Connecting with the people. Being there with them. Peter Obi travelled to Kaduna, met with the almajiris. You know almajiris are Islamic students, who have been bastardized in such a way that they’ve been reduced to rubble where they ended up being on the streets begging. So, the dynamics here is that these are our children. Let me get even close to them. And he visited their school. He sat down with them and listened to them reciting the Koran. A child of about 12 years can recite a whole 60 verses of the Quran offhand. That is intelligence. That is capacity. So why don’t you turn the capacity of these people into a better form? What did he do? He tried to enhance their living standard where they use the Makaranta in such a way. Going into their toilets, they don’t even have toilets. He went into their toilets and took care of those particular toilets by himself.
It is there on the video. You can see it. Then, not only that, he provided them with boreholes where people have drinking water. Some go to the villages. He has built boreholes in almost every state in the northern part. I’m sure you are talking about the north. He has also engaged in entrepreneurship by encouraging young generations from the northern part. And I can tell you today, when the Obidient did not have before, we have them. The northern part of the country has all their state structures in place. We are not talking about talking to people on social media. No, we are talking about people meeting them physically.
During any Salah period, he makes sure he provides the little ones he can provide — ram, cow, and some of them, for them to enjoy at least the festivity period. These are things that our leaders don’t do. But he is doing them. So, he is doing it differently from what you know of. So, now he is connecting with the people. For the first time, we have people in Yobe, Taraba state, Adamawa state, Zamfara state, Kebbi state. At the touch of a button and a call, you can easily call Nigerians, northerners, who are there working, trying to build all the structure of the Obidient movement, and in turn supporting Peter Obi. Not because he has given them money but because he has connected with them with empathy. These are some of the things that we are doing differently from what you know of.
IN THE LAST ELECTION, YOU DIDN’T HAVE AN ADEQUATE NUMBER OF POLLING UNIT AGENTS WHILE YOU ALLEGED ELECTIONS WERE RIGGED IN THOSE AREAS, HOW ARE YOU PREPARING FOR THE NEXT ELECTION IF OBI WERE TO BE THE CANDIDATE OF THIS COALITION TO ENSURE THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN?
At the moment now, the target is about 176,000 polling units. We were able to fill in about 136,000, as they said. But at the same time, they allocated us 6 million (votes), which we know we had more than that. So, what we try to do is now reorganize ourselves, and say, okay, each state will have local governments. In my state, for example, Kano, we have 44 local governments. At the moment, we are already coasting down to ensure that all the 44 local governments will have leaders and coordinators of the Obidient movement both as social support groups, and then as physical as we can be.
So, within that period, 44 local governments will trickle down to all the wards. That is what Kano, Zamfara are doing. Yobe, they are doing. Borno State, all of them are doing. So, before the end of the year, we will have completed an assignment of ensuring they will cover all the polling units. That is phase one for the Obidient movement, which has a larger grouping. So, even in the coalition, every individual that you see in the coalition has his own one or two persons. So, they will also move their own people into it. So, at the end of it all, at every polling unit, you may end up having hundreds of people supporting the candidate, which, of course, we pray is going to be Peter Obi.
So, at that point, when you have each polling unit, you have 100 people voting. Each polling unit votes, we have about 500 persons that vote. So, on average, you have 100 people voting with data, on our database, knowing their numbers, knowing how we can connect with them. So, if we targeted 200, we’ll have 17 million. So, divide 17 million by two. That’s the number that we will have.
That means we will have 8.5 million but we are targeting 200 polling units. Somebody will say that, thank you, you are giving so much information out. No, we are just mobilizing. So, you now know your targets. We now know what we are targeting, because at the moment, I find it difficult to think that people will start thinking otherwise when you have somebody who is determined to solve your problem for you. Peter Obi looked at the northern part of the country, which is one. Yesterday, he was talking about it.
Did you know that from his own statistics, which he said yesterday, Niger State has more land than the Netherlands. The Netherlands is a country. Niger State is a state in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Niger State alone covers the entire southeast of Nigeria. The entire five states in the southeast landmass are not up to Niger State. If Niger State can be turned into a productive hub, which, of course, our mantra is from consumption to production, turning it into a productive area of agriculture, which is the target. In agriculture, you never lack.
The Netherlands is providing three times what we are making in oil, they are exporting and they are making that kind of money. So, if Niger State alone can start producing like the Netherlands, that means we will make three to four times what we are making in oil. That’s just one state in the north. So, he said, let’s turn the arable land in the northern part into a production base of agriculture. So, meaning that 18 states will be producing at a large level.
Do you find any almagiri on the streets? Do you find anybody hungry in the streets? The issue of agriculture is interesting because you can eat from it, and you can sell from it, and you can transform into it. And that is what we are trying to do. That is the idea Peter Obi is selling to the northern part, to tell them that I want to turn the high level of poverty that is being tied to you to a wealthy situation.
IT WAS ONE OF THE CRITICISMS LEVELLED AGAINST OBI — SPEAKING WITHOUT HOW; LACK OF CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION. HOW DO WE SOLVE THE POWER SUPPLY? HOW DO WE SOLVE THE WATER PROBLEM? THOSE ARE THE QUESTIONS. DO YOU THINK THAT HAS BEEN LACKING IN YOUR CRITICISM OF THIS GOVERNMENT?
No, not at all. He said most of the people that are in government today, they borrow to spend for themselves and their clothing. They don’t borrow for investment purposes. There are two different things. You can subsidize production of agriculture. He is saying that subsidize the importation and purchase of tractors, seedlings and all. You could generate enough money and then pay off the debt while you are producing. You don’t need anybody to tell you. Provision of funds is already automatically being done. Let’s prioritize all of our economy and say, what we want to do for now is face agriculture squarely. Within a short period of time, you will be seeing the electricity. It’s a yearly event. Some even go into irrigation farming. It helps. When hunger is out, then the production will double because the people will be willing to work. That is one.
When you talk about the issue of electricity, the first thing that Peter did when he went to Egypt, he went to Egypt to understudy how it was because we started with Egypt; we started together with all these countries — India and the rest of them. While we are trying to say we are generating 3,000 or 4,000 megawatts, they have already generated about 500,000, far ahead of us. What did they do differently that makes them better than us? He went to Egypt with Professor Pat Utomi. He had already acquired ideas on how that can be done. You can be assured that there is a learning curve that has already been established. The how is the simplest of all. Because he is a trader. He started all of his life as a trader.
If a Peter Obi can connect with the Anambra students, every student in Anambra — every secondary school head boy has Peter Obi’s number. When he noticed that there were 26 in number, he brought them closer to him. Anything that happened in the state, the head boy of this particular school called him directly. So, within a space of four years, Anambra became number one. Go and check the records. They became number one. That is transformational leadership. So how he did it, now that is within his own head. But he was able to do it. Not only that, he made sure that the issue of electricity, knowing full well the grid, and then the transformer that they need. Many people don’t have transformers. He provided them with transformers.
In terms of the issue of manpower, what he did was that he ensured that each and every civil servant was paid his money, salary, and gratuity. He didn’t owe anybody any money. That is a morale booster. As of today, we’re talking about people trying to buy a ram for the salah period of 200,000 Naira from a salary of 70,000 Naira. How can you meet that? There’s no morale booster for the people. And he ensured that this particular kind of thing does not happen in his state.
He also took his money to ensure that he connects with every local government in the state. What our people use as security votes, Peter Obi doesn’t use it for security votes. People who come, they want to share money. He said, look, this money belongs to the people. There is a particular place this money is needed, and he moves this particular money there. That was why he was able to generate and keep that same billions of Naira that he kept in the purse of the government, which was later used to build the airport.
How many of our leaders can think like that? So, when there are arguments that have been put against him as a person or what he has done, this is how, practically, how and what can be executed. He made it very, very clear that generating money for productive use is the most important thing you can even subsidize to help to build a nation through it.
WHAT’S YOUR POSITION ON THE ECONOMY WITH INFLATION THAT IS CAUSING HARDSHIP?
It’s a weak economic policy. Look, you don’t need to go anywhere. We are all here. Nigeria, as of today, is producing nothing. We are not exporting anything. So, imagine the 774 local governments we have in Nigeria, do you know that your village or your own town or your local government has a way of survival? It’s either they are selling palm oil or something and they are producing it in large numbers. In my own village, we produce rice. In Kura, when you are going to Kano, you will see us, that’s Kura.
So, imagine if Kura local government has been enhanced. While a small country like Bangladesh can move in money, water, from the river area to an area where they can produce, they produce rice in a high quantity. So, imagine if Kura has been given that particular opportunity to produce rice in high quantities. You don’t need an import. You will be exporting. That is Kura only, out of 774 (LGs).
There are those who produce palm oil, there are those who produce animal skin. So, if everybody is producing and you are exporting, automatically, your currency will come down. It’s not rocket science.
IS PETER OBI PREPARED TO BE ATIKU’S RUNNING AGAIN?
We are not discussing anything about the vice-president. We are discussing the presidency. That’s what we are discussing. Nothing more, nothing less. Because at the moment, you need a vibrant leadership. I just told you the dynamics. At this point in time, when you bring in probably a northerner, you are changing the system.
SO IT MUST BE A SOUTHERNER?
It’s very clear, it’s a southerner or nothing. Because if you put in a northerner, it is an easy run for this particular people (APC). And all of us cannot contain another four years of heartless leadership. As far as we are concerned, Peter Obi is our presidential candidate. Why not? With the level of decay and hunger in the land, you don’t need to be told.
Vote against him now, we’ll continue in the same situation where we are. Is it Peter Obi that will be suffering from it? God has blessed him, but he is offering himself. I’m going to do this to change our lives so that every day you don’t need to knock at my door. My wife is about to give birth; I’m going to pay the school fees of my children. I have no money to pay for you. Every day, every second, everybody has one thing or the other to ask for. So, why don’t you just provide for the people so that by the time I come, I see your beautiful children coming in, when they come back from school?
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