Peter Obi’s camp denounces “malicious” claims on northerners, cites record of protection and support

Peter Obi’s media office has hit back at what it calls “recurrent, malicious falsehoods” about the former Anambra governor’s treatment of Northern Nigerians during his time in office, saying the claims are a deliberate attempt to stoke ethnic division.

In a statement on Sunday, the office said the story that Obi “repatriated” Northerners or targeted Northern traders and beggars is “utterly unfounded.”

It said Obi’s administration ran a social welfare initiative for destitute individuals and unaccompanied minors from various states found vulnerable in Awka and Onitsha. The program, it said, was a rehabilitation effort for people from across Nigeria, not an expulsion or ethnic cleansing.

The statement pushed back against the narrative by pointing to Obi’s record during eight years in office. It said he acted as a protector for Northern communities during periods of national ethno-religious tension, particularly in Onitsha’s Hausa Quarter, and worked to prevent retaliatory attacks in Anambra.

It also said the administration sponsored Muslim residents for pilgrimage to Mecca and gave Northern traders and livestock merchants in markets like Amansea a safe environment to operate without harassment.

“We understand the motivations behind this continued smear campaign,” the office said. It linked the attacks to Obi’s push to make the North Nigeria’s economic driver through agriculture and production, arguing that opponents are threatened by a message that aims to lift people out of poverty.

The office said the claims would not stick because Obi’s record and his vision for the North can be verified with the Hausa-Fulani communities in Onitsha and Awka.

“A lie told a thousand times becomes the truth,” the statement said, quoting Goebbels. “This falsehood will not endure, as Peter Obi possesses a vision for the geopolitical North that no other current Nigerian leader can match.”

The statement was e-signed by Ibrahim Umar, POMR spokesperson, on 24 May 2026.