Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi says Nigeria needs a “wealth creator and manager” and argued that his business experience sets him apart from other aspirants.
Obi made the remarks in an interview with News Central MD/CEO Kayode Akintemi on the programme “60 Minutes with Kay,” which aired on Thursday. He was responding to comments by Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, the former Kano State governor, who told Chatham House in London in 2023 that he holds a PhD and considered himself more qualified to be president than to be Obi’s running mate. At the time Kwankwaso was the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential candidate.
Both men have since joined the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), and Kwankwaso is widely expected to be considered as Obi’s running mate for 2027 after the party zoned the presidential ticket to the south.
“Qualification is a perspective and it depends on where you’re coming from,” Obi said. “He said he was more qualified because he has a PhD, which is not bad. I don’t have a PhD. He has some experience, he’s exposed. He was a minister. There’s no doubt about that. I don’t think his claim was wrong.”
But Obi said the country requires different credentials at this moment. “For what Nigeria needs today, Nigeria needs a wealth creator, wealth manager,” he said. “I have built reputable businesses from scratch locally and internationally. Nobody today in this context, including the president, can claim to have passed through my experience.”
Responding to critics who have labelled him a “common trader,” Obi defended trading as a demanding enterprise. “Trading and making money from it is one of the most difficult things to do — else everyone would be a trader,” he said. “What Nigeria needs today is somebody that creates wealth, not somebody who shares wealth; somebody who can manage resources more efficiently and save for the future.”
