Peter Obi Biography, Net worth, Business and Political Profile

Mr. Peter Obi is a former governor of Anambra State, 2019 Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP and 2023 Presidential candidate of Labour Party.

Peter Gregory Obi was born on 16 July 1961 in Onitsha, Anambra state, Nigeria.

Education

He attended Christ the King College, Onitsha, where he completed his secondary school education. He studied Philosophy at the University of Nigeria where he graduated with a B.A. (Hons) in philosophy in 1984.

Professional Courses

Due to his passion for business, he pursuit several professional courses relating to business for an in-depth knowledge in the field of economics and commerce.

• Lagos Business School for a completed the Chief Executive Program
• Harvard Business School (two major programs) completed
• The London School of Economics, Columbia Business School, and the International Institute for Management Development where he received certificates in the Senior Executive Program and the Chief Executive Officer Program. 
• The Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University
• Saïd Business School of Oxford University and 
• The Judge Business School of Cambridge University.

Leadership Role

Prior to his political career, Mr. Obi was a businessman. He held leadership positions in some private establishments: Next International Nigeria Ltd, Chairman and Director of Guardian Express Mortgage Bank Ltd, Guardian Express Bank Plc, Future View Securities Ltd, Paymaster Nigeria Ltd, Chams Nigeria Ltd, Data Corp Ltd and Card Centre Ltd. He was the youngest chairman of Fidelity Bank Plc.

Political Profile

First Tenure as Governor

Peter Obi contested in the Anambra State Governorship Election as a candidate for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) party in 2003, but his opponent, Chris Ngige of the People's Democratic Party, was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

After nearly three years of litigation, Ngige's victory was overturned by the Court of Appeal on 15 March 2006. Obi took office for on 17 March 2006.

On 2 November 2006, he was impeached by the state house of assembly after seven months in office and was replaced the next day by Virginia Etiaba, his deputy, making her the first-ever female governor in Nigeria's history.

Obi successfully challenged his impeachment and was re-instated as the governor on 9 February 2007 by the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu. Etiaba handed power back to him after the court ruling.

Peter Obi once again left office on 29 May 2007 following the General Elections, in which Andy Uba was declared the winner by the electoral body. Obi returned to the courts once more, this time contending that the four-year tenure he had won in the 2003 elections only started to run when he took office in March 2006.

On 14 June 2007 the Supreme Court of Nigeria upheld Obi's contention and returned Obi to office. This brought to an abrupt end the tenure of Obi's successor, Andy Uba whose 14 April 2007 election the Supreme Court nullified on the grounds that Obi's four-year tenure should have remained undisturbed until March 2010.

Second Tenure as Governor

On 7 February 2010, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Peter Obi the winner of the 2010 Anambra State Gubernatorial election, where he defeated Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, former governor, CBN. This election victory gave Governor Obi an additional four years as the governor of Anambra State. On 17 March 2014 Peter Obi served out his second term and handed over the governorship to Willie Obiano.

After the 2015 General Election, President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Peter Obi as the chairman of the Nigerian Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).

2019 Presidential Elections

On 12 October 2018, Peter Obi was named as the running mate to Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party's Presidential Candidate in the Nigerian 2019 Presidential elections. As a candidate for Vice President, Obi opposed proposals for a standardized national minimum wage, arguing that different states should have different minimum wages.

2023 Presidential Elections

On 24 March 2022, Peter Obi declared his intention to run for the position of President of Nigeria under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, but later pulled out and announced he would be running under the Labour Party platform instead.

According to the Peoples Gazette, Peter Obi wrote to the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party on 24 May to resign his membership.

On 8 July 2022, Obi unveiled his running mate, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed. Speaking on his choice of the vice presidential candidate, he stated as follows: "This is our right to secure, unite and make Nigeria productive. And you can do that without having people who have similar visions, ideas and are prepared for the task. So, I have the honour today to present to you, God willing, Nigeria’s next vice president in the person of Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed."

Recognition

Obi has equally received several awards and honour due to his ever-growing leadership and political career.

Pandora Papers revelations

The result of the Pandora Papers leaks, the Premium Times reported on Obi's involvement in offshore companies in tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands and Barbados. Obi appeared to have made shell companies in the 1990s with the Barbados-based Beauchamp Investments Limited and UK-based Next International (UK) Limited being tied back to Obi and his family.

After the revelations, civil society groups pushed for investigations into Obi as reporters queried the EFCC on if the commission would start investigating Obi. A few days after the report, Obi responded by claiming that he did not break any laws and clarified that the accounts' money was accrued from his time as a businessman. The EFCC invited him for questioning later in October 2021 after Buhari directed all anti-corruption agencies to investigate those named in the leaks. However, no criminal case has ever been filed against Obi.

Family

Peter Obi got married to Margaret Brownson Obi in 1992 and the union is blessed with two children (Oseloka and Gabriella). Obi is a devout Christian of the Catholic denomination and Igbo by tribe.

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