FOR THE RECORD: Speech by Peter Obi during his official defection to ADC

Protocols

As the year 2025 ends today, we stand on the threshold of a new year, which we hope will mark the beginning of Nigeria’s long-awaited socio economic transformation. For every nation, and people, moments of profound national challenge demand clarity of purpose, courage, and decisive action, for Nigeria, that moment is now!

Many have said that Nigeria is an independent country in name, yet today we must begin a new struggle: the struggle for true independence based on self-determination, human equality, and national reunification. We must reclaim our country from a small group of opportunists who have captured the corridors of power and return it to its rightful owners – the Nigerian people!

What is most painful is that many of those who once benefited from democratic governance have now become accessories to a stolen mandate, shamelessly celebrating electoral injustice in public, and working hard to destroy democracy through coercion, manipulation and outright gangsterism particularly on opposition parties. Let me assure Nigerians that we will defend our fragile democracy and make it resilient. We will decisively defeat any attempt by the ruling party and its agents to manipulate or rig future elections. The will of the Nigerian people is sacrosanct, non-negotiable and those plotting to subvert it in 2027 should rethink their actions. Nigerians have endured enough and will resist any assault on their mandate through all lawful and legitimate means.

Because weak national institutions, particularlythe Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), contributed significantly to our present crisis, we most strongly demand urgent reforms of the entire electoral process.We demand credible and transparent elections that are free and fair and based on strict adherence to electoral laws, starting with prescribed educational qualification for eligibility for election and transmission of results as voted. At the heart of our coming national transformationis electoral integrity which will promote responsive governance. We can no longer toy with electoral integrity especially as we see the tragedies of truncated democracies across West Africa. Nigeria is too big and important to the black race and the global economy to remain a failure. We must protect democracy in Nigeria by ensuring credible elections in 2027.

Rethinking Nigeria: The Need for Unity:

It is public knowledge that Nigeria is in grave distress. Our democracy is under threat. Our nation is adrift. Our people are in persistent agony. Today, Nigeria is widely described as a failing and disgraced nation. This is not the destiny that Almighty God bequeathed to over 220 million Nigerians. It was not always so and should not remain so. Across all recognized indicators of good governance – accountability, political stability, rule of law, control of corruption, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, and separation of powers – Nigeria records negative marks.

With over 130 million Nigerians living in multidimensional poverty, more than 80 million youths unemployed, worsening insecurity, fiscal recklessness, disunity and the absence of inclusive governance, like many patriotic Nigerians, I am deeply disturbed by the state of our nation. The question on everyone’s lips is whether there is still hope for Nigeria. Despite the gravity of our situation, I remain firmly optimistic! Given our immense human and natural resources, I am convinced that a new Nigeria is possible—a functional, productive and inclusive nation.

Motivated by my desperation for a New Nigeria That Is Possible, I am in constant search for possible solutions to make Nigeria work for all Nigerians, to make Nigeria an inclusive and progressively sustainable nation. While we are faced with litany of socio-economic problems, the absence of unity caused by dishonest, corrupt and ineffective leadership is at the heartof our problems.

In addition to my various leadership training in many renowned institutions including Lagos Business School; Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Harvard, Oxford, and Cambridge universities; INSEAD; IMD and LSE, my desire to see a better and functional Nigeria has sustained my search for knowledge on leadership and nation building. All my readings and travels over many years have been primarily focused on understanding what promotes national unity and national transformation, and how to embed deep rooted unity and effective leadership in our dear nation, Nigeria. Let me mention few insights that are still very fresh in my mind.

Having observed and read extensively on conflict, disunity, reconciliation, unity, and development, I travelled and met with one of the best authors, Professor Nicole Fox of California State University, who wrote on conflict, reconciliation, and the transformation of Rwanda. Her writings inspired in me a confidence that Nigeria can move from conflict and instability to consensus and rapid socio-economic transformation. To have a first-hand experience of how Rwanda was transformed, I travelled to Rwanda and had the opportunity of having a valuable time with President Paul Kagame to further learn from his experiences in the leadership of Rwanda. It has remained one of my most treasured learning experiences.

In discussing and learning from President Kagame, I saw a leader deeply committed to the unity and socio-economic transformation of his country, evident in the growth of GDP per capita from about $200 in 1995 to over $1,000 in 2025—a phenomenal 500% increase. In comparison, Nigeria’s GDP per capita in 1995 was $1,225 and has lamentably declined to below $1,000 in 2025, a decline after 30 years of supposed nation-building in a country proudly called the “Giant of Africa.”

Shocked by the gap in GDP per capita and other development indices between Nigeria and other emerging economies, I got curious to find out the reason for this divergence. This led me to read the book Growing Apart: Politics and Economic Change in Indonesia and Nigeria by Professor Peter Lewis of JohnsHopkins University. In this fascinating and deeply revealing book, Professor Lewis most convincingly showed how policy choices, state institutions, national unity, and leadership shape sustainable economic development or under development. While Nigeria and Indonesia had similar characteristics of high population, cultural heterogeneity, and agrarian economies, the current gap observable in almost all key socio-economic indicators can be attributed to the power of leadership and unity, and their utilisation for effective nation-building and socio-economic transformation.

Disturbed by the insights from the book, I travelled to JohnsHopkins University and met Professor Peter Lewis. The meeting and learning were even more shocking than the revelations from the book. Following that, I travelled to Indonesia and had meetings with Ministers of Education, Planning, Health, Small Villages, Small Businesses, the Vice President, and one of their most popular leaders, President Joko Widodo, to learn more about how they achieved such significant success.

While Indonesia has significantly transformed into a commendable success, with a GDP of above $1.4 trillion, the first in South-East Asia to cross the 1 trillion mark, and a per capita of about $5300, it is the largest economy in South-East Asia. On the contrary, with the GDP of $240 Billion and Per Capita of below $1000 our dear country Nigeria is experiencing socio-economic confusion, de-industrialisation, pervasive corruption, conflict, and increased poverty.

In conclusion, Professor Lewis maintains that Indonesia achieved commendable progress largely due to how its leaders and government managed their resources, while Nigeria became more underdeveloped, fragmented, and poorer due to how we consumed and squandered our resources.

It is the same state of sadness, shock and hope that you get when you read other books like From Third World to the First by Lee KuanYew; How Asia Works: Success and Failures in the World’s Most Dynamic Region by Joe Studwell and Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson.

Fascinated by the insights from these readings and disturbed by the comments of one of the winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics, Prof. James Robinson, that nations like Nigeria know what to do to prosper but refuse to do so, I travelled to the University of Chicago to meet and further learn from him. A key outcome is that our problem in Nigeria is one of leadership and lack of unity. Our dear nation cannot grow and develop without unity and competent leadership as against the current political leadership adept at exploiting our differences. Their expertise lies in creating more divisions to sustain themselves in power, with little or no interest in unity and the inclusive development of Nigeria.

It is the same desire to learn that informs myintensive engagements in Nigeria, with regular visits and robust relationships across our states, local governments, villages, and communities. What we urgently need is leadership and a government that can deeply appreciate our potential and resiliently unify our diversity for rapid socio-economic transformation and inclusive development.

Nigeria’s problem is not a lack of potential. We are endowed with enormous human and natural resources. Our prevailing tragedy is the result of deliberate sabotage of our potential by a political class that cultivates disunity and feeds fat on our dysfunctionalism. As a nation, we are not poor; we are looted into poverty. As a nation, we are not broken; we are severely betrayed.

The average Nigerian is not lazy, not corrupt, and not incompetent. But the system is rigged against him or her. The system is rigged to reward mediocrity, punish merit, and recycle failure. Nigeria is not collapsing under the weight of its people. Nigeria is suffocating under the weight of impunity and greed of her leadership. This government excels at rewarding illegalities and corrupt practices, and until we confront this truth, no amount of reform will save us. We want a genuine and patriotic political change, not a cosmetic makeover.

To my fellow Nigerians at home and abroad, this is not the time for despair, detachment, diplomatic silence, or ethnic chauvinism. It is a time for us to unite as Nigerians to salvage our dear country. The choice is between despair that leads to the continuity of the decay of power or the courage to disrupt the prevailing decadence, state capture, and formalised criminality in the name of governance.

I have visited every nook and cranny of this country. I have gone to IDP camps, which those in government fear to visit or even refuse topublicly acknowledge their existence. From North to South and West to East, Nigerians have never felt so insecure and so divided; this should not be our fate or our common heritage. For the sake of God and country, for the sake of the hungry, the poor, and out-of-school children, and for the sake of those yet unborn, we must unite and collectively dismantle the criminal enterprise that is destroying Nigeria. A New Nigeria is Indeed Possible!

With unity and effective leadership, we will strategically support agriculture and manufacturing to become the highest contributors to our GDP. To achieve this, special attention must be paid to developing the agricultural potential of Northern Nigeria. With unity, we will move Nigeria from consumption to production. With unity and effective leadership, we will defeat insecurity, corruption, unemployment, inflation, illiteracy, and many other socio-economic problems confronting us. With unity and effective leadership, a new Nigeria—a productive and inclusive Nigeria is Possible!

Let me say something more about national unity. As I travel across the world and listen to leaders who have transformed their nations, I observe that one of the critical ingredients for economic and socio-economic transformation is national consensus. Leaders who build transformative consensus have one common characteristic. They are honest and truthful. They love their people and tell them the truth all the time. This is the reason George Orwell described government as the art of telling the people the truth. Government should be transparent and honest because the people deserve the truth from their leaders. Transformative leaders tell their people the truth; they do not exploit the people to enrich themselves and few cronies.

In the context of the foregoing, it is good to reflect on the current tax fraud saga. I have always said that the goal of a good fiscal policy is to make the people and the country rich. There is no value in boasting of increase in public revenue while the people starve. Tax is a form of social contract. When the people are richer because government supports them with good policies, the people pay more taxes to government. It is bad fiscal policy for the government to make the people poorer and still tax them more. Taxing poverty will not create wealth. It will lead to more poverty. Our new, planned tax regime fails the fundamental principle of good fiscal policy. It does not create wealth for the people; it makes the people poorer.

Today, for the first time in our history, a tax law is reported to be forged. The National Assembly now admits that the tax law on the gazette is not what it passed as law. Government wantsNigerian citizens to pay more taxes based on forged tax laws, with no benefits. Forgery and manipulation are increasingly penetrating government policies and most regrettably defining the foundation of our fiscal policy. We must change this dishonest social order. A forged tax regime cannot create wealth and sustain national unity. Leaders who delight in hurting the people with exploitative taxes are not nation builders. Leaders who delight in telling lies and hiding the ball from the people cannot mobilise the people for transformative work.

To build lasting unity and inclusive prosperity,we need honest, transparent, and responsive leadership. As the great revolutionary, Franz Fanon, once noted, “Every generation, must out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfil it or betray it.” This generation of leaders gathered here today must achieve our mission to courageously lead Nigeria away from its entrapment in poverty and disunity. We are a generation charged with disrupting the structure of criminal governance and recreating a new structure of unity and prosperity for all Nigerians. We can do it and we must do it!Many countries have done it under great leaders. I have studied and conversed with these leaders. If we do what they did, we will achieve even greater success.

In the past months, I have consulted broadly. The message has been consistent. Those who grab power by any means have mismanaged it. They have not led. They have not served. They wished they turned our plural society and democracy into a convenient one-party state. No way. That will not happen. They want to create a false narrative that the Nigerian people are weak and tired. It is not true! Nigerian voters are ready to vote them out. They want to create a false sense of invincibility. That is false. They have built a house of cards with lies and errors. It will collapse as we unite to fight. Democracy offers us the opportunity to reject them at the polls. Our job next time, in 2027, is to vote them out and keep vigil until they are out.

Fellow Nigerians, this is the time for unity and prosperity. The signs are clear, and the mission is settled. Having been part of the coalition from inception, I now respectfully call on my political leaders, associates, supporters, the Obidient Movement, political leaders and members of the opposition parties across the country to join this broad national coalition under the African Democratic Congress led by Sen. David Mark. This decision is guided solely by patriotism and national interest. We are working with leaders across political divides who share a common commitment to rescuing Nigeria. The task ahead is enormous, but it is not insurmountable. History may forgive wrong decisions, but it will not forgive silence in moments of national peril.

Do we deserve a government that thrives on division, propaganda and indifference to the suffering of its people? I do not believe so. Nigeria deserves patriotic leadership that unites and governs with empathy. Let history record that Nigeria’s turning point began here and now.

Together, let us move forward with courage, unity and resolve. A new, united, productive and inclusive Nigeria is possible.

God bless you all, and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

December 31, 2025.