Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress for the 2027 general election, has raised alarm that he may not survive to contest the poll, citing what he described as a coordinated campaign by the federal government to obstruct his activities and those of opposition figures.
Obi made the disclosure during an interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo on the program With Chude. Jideonwo posted the interview on his X account on Wednesday.
Peter Obi’s 2027 Presidential Ambitions Under Threat, He Claims
Asked directly whether he might not be a candidate in 2027, Obi went further than the question demanded. “Not even a candidate. I might not even be alive. I’m telling you,” he said. “Every single thing I do for a living, this government is frustrating it. Deliberately so. Everything. So there is even a possibility, if they have the opportunity, I will not be alive.”
He was careful to frame his words as an observation rather than a formal accusation. “It’s not an accusation. I know. I get frustration every day. Because you do things that you think would be normal, it is not normal anymore,” he said. “They won’t come directly and say, ‘Oh, we’re doing this,’ but you can see their hand in virtually everything.”
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, said the alleged targeting was not exclusive to him. He claimed the treatment extended across the opposition. “They are attacking everybody who is in opposition personally. I am being attacked personally. Everything. Even to provide me with necessary things that I should have been entitled to, not at all,” he said.
Federal Government Yet to Respond to Opposition Targeting Allegations
As of the time this report was filed, the federal government had not issued any response to Obi’s claims. No spokesperson from the presidency or any government agency addressed the allegations.
Obi cited a recent incident at an airport to illustrate his claims of targeted harassment. He said officials clamped his vehicle despite other cars being parked in the same location without consequence. “I had a case recently at the airport, where people who work in the airport came and locked my car. And I said, ‘It’s me.’ The person in charge said he doesn’t care,” Obi said. “But I said, ‘Look at the cars of other people.’ And you could see them talking to each other, as if, ‘Who is this one?'”
He did not name the airport or provide a date for the incident. Details of any formal complaint filed over the matter were not disclosed.
Obi also claimed that ordinary Nigerians who knew him personally were now avoiding public association with him out of fear. “I see people I know at the airport; they will not greet me because they are fearing that if they greet me…” he said, leaving the sentence unfinished.
He added that some people had gone as far as asking him not to attend family events, saying invitations had come with requests that he stay away. “I have people send me invitations and say, ‘My son’s, my daughter’s wedding, but please don’t come,'” Obi said.
Obi did not provide documentary evidence to support any of the allegations made during the interview.
The former labor party presidential candidate contested the 2023 presidential election and came in third. He has since moved to the Nigerian Democratic Congress and positioned himself as the party’s candidate for 2027. His emergence in that role has placed him in direct opposition to the ruling administration.
The claims, if substantiated, would represent a significant deterioration in the political climate ahead of the 2027 election cycle. Opposition parties have in recent months raised separate complaints about alleged pressure on their members, though none have gone as far as Obi in suggesting a threat to personal safety.
Political tensions in Nigeria have remained elevated as the 2027 campaign season begins to take shape. Whether Obi’s comments produce a formal response from Abuja or trigger any official inquiry remains to be seen. His camp did not release a further statement after the interview aired.
