Peter Obi

Peter Gregory Onwubuasi Obi (, born 19 July 1961) is a Nigerian politician and businessman who served as governor of Anambra from March to November 2006, February to May 2007, and June 2007 to March 2014.

In May 2022, he became the Labour Party candidate for President of Nigeria in the 2023 presidential election, after defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party.

Born in Onitsha in 1961, Obi graduated from the University of Nigeria in 1984.

Afterwards, he entered business and banking, eventually holding several executive positions in several banks.

Peter Obi was born on 19 July 1961 in Onitsha, Anambra State, in a devout Christian family.

He attended Christ the King College, Onitsha, where he completed his secondary school education.

He was admitted to the University of Nigeria, in 1980 and graduated with a B.A. (Hons) in Philosophy in 1984.

Obi was a businessman before he ventured into politics.

He held leadership positions in some private establishments.

Some of the companies he served include 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.

Obi contested for governor in 2003 as a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, but Chris Ngige was declared winner of the election.

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 the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Obi returned to the courts once more, this time contending that the four-year tenure he had won in the 2003 election only started to run when he took office in March 2006.

In 2006, the election of Chris Ngige was nullified and Obi was declared winner of the 2003 election, and he assumed office in March 2006.

Shortly, he was impeached in November the same year by the Anambra State House of Assembly, led by Hon. Mike Balonwu.

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

Obi took office on 17 March 2006.

On 2 November 2006, he was impeached by the Anambra State House of Assembly, led by Mike Balonwu, 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.

However, his impeachment was overturned and he returned to office in February 2007.

Obi was removed after the 2007 Anambra State gubernatorial election, but the judiciary again intervened by ruling that he should be allowed to complete a full four-year term.

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.

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.

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.

In 2010, he was re-elected to a second term.

On 7 February 2010, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Obi the winner of the 2010 Anambra State Gubernatorial election.

He defeated Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, former governor, CBN.

This election victory gave Obi an additional four years as the governor.

After leaving office in the year 2014, Obi decamped to the Peoples Democratic Party.

On 17 March 2014, Obi's term ended and Willie Obiano assumed office.

After leaving office in 2014, Obi gained new status as an advocate for good governance and national political figure after decamping to the Peoples Democratic Party in 2014.

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

On 12 October 2018, Obi was named as the running mate to Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party's Presidential Candidate in the 2019 presidential election.

In 2019, he was selected as the PDP vice presidential nominee in the presidential election, running alongside Atiku Abubakar, but they lost to the incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari and vice president Yemi Osinbajo.

In 2022, Obi ran for president himself, first in the PDP until defecting to the Labour Party in May 2022 to obtain its nomination.

Obi's presidential campaign has been described as populist and performed well among youth, who have been nicknamed "Obidients".

In the general election, he lost to Bola Tinubu.

The Labour Party, along with several other opposition parties, sued to overturn Tinubu's victory, alleging voting irregularities.

Their arguments were rejected in court.