Peter Obi is a notable man known for his credibility and transparency in public and private life. His uncommon approach and personal beliefs in creating a working system free from corruption earned him lots of admirers and followers.
Full name
His full name is Peter Gregory Onwubuasi Obi
State of Origin
He is from Anambra State
Age
He celebrated his 62nd birthday on 19th July 2023 where he was seen doing humanitarian duties like visiting IDP Camp in Plateau State, Nigeria
Wife
He is married to Margaret Brownson Obi
Children
His lawful union with Margaret Obi produced two children. Peter and Margaret have a son and a daughter together. He has no other verifiable child elsewhere aside his two lovely children
Early life/Background
Peter Obi was born on 19th July 1961 in Onitsha formerly in Eastern region now located in Anambra State, South East Nigeria. He was born a year after Nigeria gained independence from Great Britain and electing Nnamdi Azikiwe as the ceremonial president / Governor General replacing the British and Tafawa Belewa elected as the prime minister.
He was born into a Christian family and he was brought up in a catholic home where he was exposed to certain morals and principles in life which guided his journey into adulthood as he embraced living a simple life.
Education
After his primary school, he enrolled into Christ the King College at his place of birth Onitsha Anambra State. He started from junior secondary school and completed his secondary school education there which marked the end of his basic education. He was born into a commercial city where he could have just decided to journey into business immediately like his mates but he decided to take a step further and search for knowledge. He sought for admission into the first University in old Eastern region and he was admitted into the University of Nigeria Nsukka where he was given admission to study Philosophy in the year 1980. Despite the fact that he had eyes focus on business, he never gambled or joked with his studies and it enabled him to graduate successfully in 1984 after his four years course and he was awarded a verifiable Bachelor of Art degree in Philosophy.
Peter Obi loves education so much and he saw education as means of gaining relevant knowledge to understand how certain things work. He is always willing to learn and it prompted him to enroll into some business schools in the world where he participated in business owners program and executive programs to sharpen him better as a business leader.
Business career
He lived in London for many years where he started his business and extended to Nigeria for his retail business. Before moving into banking, he was a known trader that majored in distributing products of many companies using his business strategies. He founded Next International Limited that operated in Nigeria and United Kingdom too.
He was deeply into retail business where he brings many containers loaded with edible and household goods into Nigeria for redistribution to bulk buyers and final consumers. He became a known importer of certain brands where he had exclusive distribution license as the direct dealer. He was doing so well in business and it prompted a financial institution in UK to support him in business by giving him overdraft.
He conducted his business credibly without violating Nigeria business laws and that of United Kingdom. He understood the laws and he followed the laws in conducting his business affairs because he is very law abiding.
As an importer, many containers loaded with goods usually arrive at the port on his name and he was doing his business with humility, simplicity and focus. He was not manufacturing the goods directly so he mastered how to retail the goods as a trader that understood how supply chain works.
His business strategy and frugality enabled him to climb fast in life where he was earning for productivity and not for showing off his wealth to intimidate his peers, community and people around him.
When he had gathered sufficient capital which he got in his trading business as a noble trader, he decided to invest in financial institutions where he bought shares of certain companies and sat in the leadership board of such companies.
His director and chairmanship roles in some companies like Guardian Express Mortgage Bank Ltd, Chams Nigeria Ltd, Guardian Express Bank Plc, Paymaster Nigeria Ltd, Data Corp Ltd, Future View Securities Ltd and host others earned him laudable business experience in private sector. He served meticulously where he showed credible leadership, transparency and zero tolerance to corruption.
His biggest win in banking sector came when he got elected as the chairman of Fidelity Bank Plc. When he was appointed to serve as the chairman of Fidelity Bank, he became the youngest chairman of a bank at that time and he held the position for many years ensuring that Fidelity Bank returned value for shareholders and gained a market share in the banking industry despite numerous competitions.
Political career
Even though he had made lots of money in business and secured the financial balance of his family, he watched the system of political leadership in his state Anambra and knew that he could have done things better if he was the Governor of the State. His resolve to leave private sector and offer himself as a servant through his journey in politics distracted his business journey yet he was moved to serve his people.
He joined All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) where he contested Anambra State Governorship election in 2003 but lost the election to his rivalry Sen. Chris Ngige from the ruling party then People’s Democratic Party (PDP). He challenged the election in court where he restored his stolen mandate after three years and was sworn in as the Governor of Anambra State.
He brought so many changes as a way of trying to make the political system to be free from corruption and the move earned him lots of criticism from those benefitting from the corrupt things he pushed to change.
He was impeached by Anambra State House of Assembly and he took the matter to the court to challenge the illegality of the impeachment and he was returned again by the court acquitting him of not violating any section of the constitution that warranted impeachment and forceful removal from office where he was performing his constitutional duties as the Governor of his dear State.
He also went to the court for the third time to seek for interpretation of term in the office where court ruled that he has constitutional right to complete his four years in office before another election can be held in Anambra.
His victory again from the court brought changes to the calendar as Anambra State holds Governorship election on a different time and period till date. He governed his State amicably and invested hugely in education, health, roads, cleared pension, rural development, and empowerment
He signed thousands of property documents for citizens and investors in the state without allocating or signing any certificate of occupancy for himself or any member of his family.
During his time as Governor of his state, he invested heavily in education which helped in lifting Anambra State from twenty six positions to number one in WAEC. He bought about thirty thousand computers and distributed it in schools.
He also bought many vehicles from Innosson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) and distributed it to schools, securities and necessary agencies.
He saved lots of money for the state through reduction on cost of governance and zero tolerance to corruption.
Vice Presidential Candidate
After the end of his tenure, he toured Anambra and presented a successor who was voted massively riding on his laudable achievements. He left his first political party All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and joined People’s Democratic Party (PDP) where he was chosen as running mate to Waziri Atiku Abubakar in 2019 Presidential election which they lost the election to the then incumbent President who was re-elected for his second term or tenure.
Presidential Ambition
In 2022, he toured almost the thirty six States and Federal Capital Territory Abuja where he shared his vision of pulling Nigerians out from poverty, building Nigeria economy from consumption to production, reduction on cost of governance and many more.
Many young people, women and men loved his leadership capacity and joined effort with him to birth a movement referred to as “Obidients movement”. When he saw that PDP will not give him Presidential ticket to fly the flag of the party ahead of 2023 General election, he dumped the party and moved into Labour Party (LP) where he was given the party presidential ticket and he appointed Sen. Dr. Datti Yusuf Baba-Ahmed as his running mate for the election.
After the election, the candidate of the All Progressive Congress President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was declared the winner of the election and Peter Obi was told to go to court.
He accepted to go to court in line with challenging the process that led to the victory of the incumbent president who was sworn in as the president on 29th May 2023.
Peter told his supporters to remain law abiding as he moved to challenge the election in the court.
Social Media
He is very active in social media like Facebook, X formerly Twitter and others. He uses social media as a tool to reach out to his fans and supporters in line with sharing his positions on political and economic policies. Messages written by him are usually signed – PO