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The 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has said the impending food crisis in Northern Nigeria is disheartening.
Obi blamed the impending food crisis in the North on bad leadership.
Reacting to the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) warning that over 17 million Nigerians in the North are at risk of acute hunger, Obi said the growing hunger among Nigerian citizens will worsen unless the people enthrone leaders who have the welfare of citizens at heart.
He said the North is the food basket of Nigeria and that only incompetent leadership could drag the country into such a horrible situation.
A statement signed by the Peter Obi Media Reach quoted Obi as saying:
“The recent report from the UN about the impending food crisis in northern Nigeria is disheartening, more so because it is avoidable.
“Northern Nigeria is the nation’s food basket, and nothing short of incompetent and irresponsible leadership could have created this tragedy.
“In a recent post on his X handle, he urged our national leaders to reassess their priorities and address the dire circumstances facing our citizens.
“He called on the Federal Government and state leaders to move beyond mere political discourse and make transparent, upfront investments to secure agricultural corridors, support smallholder farmers with accessible resources, and collaborate vigorously with organisations like the World Food Programme (WFP) to bridge funding gaps before this crisis escalates and claims more lives, especially those of children.
“A prosperous Nigeria, free from hunger, is achievable, but it requires leadership that prioritises the welfare of its citizens.
“I am deeply troubled by the latest report from the UN’s World Food Programme, indicating that northern Nigeria is experiencing its most severe hunger crisis in nearly a decade.
“Over 17 million people in nine northern states face crisis-level hunger, with more than 35 million Nigerians nationwide at risk during this challenging season.
“The fact that over 10,000 residents of Borno State have entered ‘catastrophic’ hunger conditions represents not only immense human suffering but also a profound national failure.
“Nigeria should not rank among the world’s hungriest nations, given its abundant resources, particularly the vast stretches of fertile, uncultivated land in the North.”
A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, Kenneth Okonkwo, says the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, saw value in him.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, Okonkwo said former Anambra state governor, Peter Obi betrayed him.
The Nollywood veteran-turned politician said this barely 24 hours after Atiku appointed him as his spokesman.
Read Also: 2027: It’s My Turn To Lead Imo State – Sam Anyanwu Declares
He said he had publicly ended his relationship with Obi in 2024 after concluding that the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, presidential candidate lacked the decisiveness required to lead Nigeria.
“As a public affairs analyst that I have been from 2009 before I ever met Peter Obi, I proceeded with my job. You were one of the earliest interviewers that interviewed me in July 2024 when I said I wasn’t speaking for him anymore because he’s not decisive.
“I’ve seen in him certain qualities that make him unfit to be the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I made it public. By then, I had finished my job with him. But in order for the people to know that I am not speaking for him anymore, I made it public, and I went my own way, and I was doing my own job.
“He was the one who betrayed me,” Okonkwo said.
Samuel Anyanwu, the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said it’s his turn to take charge of Imo State after Ikedi Ohakim, Emeka Ihedioha, and Hope Uzodimma.
Anyanwu spoke in Owerri, the Imo State capital at the start of a group called the ‘Polling Unit Movement for Sam Daddy.’ ‘Sam Daddy’ is Anyanwu’s politics moniker.
He mentioned that all of his fellow leaders who later took charge of the state came from “the old PDP in Imo,” stressing that it would be fair and just to give him the opportunity to lead when the voters go to the polls next year.
