Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has placed cost-cutting and personal sacrifice at the centre of his 2027 campaign, promising to radically reduce the cost of governance and dismantle what he described as unnecessary privileges attached to public office.
Obi made the declaration during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today with Seun Okinbaloye on Sunday, as he outlined what he would do differently if elected president in 2027. Channels Television confirmed Obi as the NDC presidential candidate ahead of the programme.
The former Anambra State governor said his administration would begin cutting government expenditure from its first day in office, arguing that scarce public resources should be redirected to education, healthcare, security and other sectors that directly affect citizens.
According to him, Nigeria has reached a point where leaders must demonstrate the same sacrifices they demand from the people.
“Painful reforms must come this way. You ask the people to fast, you fast with them,” Obi said, insisting that a government cannot ask citizens to endure hardship while public officials continue to enjoy extravagant privileges.
He said he would not support expensive government acquisitions that add little value to the lives of Nigerians, citing the huge sums spent on official aircraft and other presidential privileges.
Obi argued that the resources used for such expenditures could instead transform critical sectors, particularly primary healthcare and education.
He recalled that during his tenure as Anambra governor, he deliberately reduced government overheads, including by refusing to maintain expensive liaison arrangements outside the state.
“We must shut down this waste and deal with the issues that will protect our people and serve our people properly,” he said.
Obi also renewed his opposition to the creation of a separate official structure for the First Lady, describing it as an unnecessary addition to the machinery of government.
He argued that Nigerians elect a president, not a presidential couple, and therefore public resources should not be deployed to create parallel structures around the president’s spouse.
“The person seeking votes today is Peter Obi, not Mr and Mrs Obi,” he said.
While acknowledging that his wife would remain the First Lady if he became president, Obi said she would not operate a separate government office with its own bureaucracy and expenditure.
The position reinforces one of the central themes of his campaign: that political office should be stripped of privileges that do not directly serve the public.
The interview also turned contentious when Okinbaloye questioned Obi over allegations surrounding his assets abroad and issues linked to his Code of Conduct declarations.
Obi rejected the suggestion that his foreign assets were evidence of wrongdoing, explaining that he had opened an account while living in the United Kingdom and had accumulated savings for his family.
He maintained that his overseas assets had been declared and were available for investigation.
According to him, the focus should be on whether public money was missing rather than whether a public official had legitimate assets before assuming office.
Obi also defended investments connected to family businesses, insisting that saving and investing money in legitimate businesses should not automatically be construed as a conflict of interest.
He challenged his critics to produce evidence that he had stolen public funds.
Responding to criticism that some of the statistics and international comparisons he frequently uses lack context, Obi said he was open to correction but stood by the substance of his argument.
He cited Nigeria’s foreign reserves and historical economic position, arguing that Nigerians should not celebrate modest improvements without considering how far the country has fallen behind comparable economies.
Obi said his approach was not to present himself as infallible but to remain willing to learn.
“I’m not saying I’m perfect. I’m a learner. A leader must be a listener and a learner,” he said.
He maintained that his comparisons with countries such as China and South Korea were intended to demonstrate the scale of Nigeria’s lost economic opportunities, rather than to create misleading impressions.
The NDC candidate also promised an aggressive campaign against corruption, saying his first weapon would be personal example.
Obi said he would not ask Nigerians to endure austerity while members of his administration lived lavishly.
“I will fight corruption brutally and I will show it. I will live it,” he said.
For Obi, the credibility of painful economic reforms would depend largely on whether political leaders were prepared to endure the same conditions they imposed on citizens.
His argument was straightforward: if government tells Nigerians to sacrifice, government must sacrifice first.
Asked whether he was prepared to work with other opposition figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Kano State governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, Obi said he was willing to work with everybody.
But he said his most important political coalition was with Nigerian youths.
“My biggest group I need to work with is the youths of Nigeria,” he said, urging young Nigerians to recognise that the 2027 election would ultimately determine the direction of their future.
Obi said the country needed leadership built around competence, capacity, compassion, character and commitment.
He also defended the Obidient Movement against accusations of intolerance, describing it less as a conventional political support group and more as a movement of Nigerians dissatisfied with the status quo.
Asked about the major lesson from the 2023 presidential election, Obi said the country must learn from what went wrong and prevent a repeat.
He declined to rule out working with other political figures, saying he was ready to cooperate with anyone committed to changing Nigeria’s direction.
His comments come amid intensified opposition realignment ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Obi and Kwankwaso have recently presented a united political platform under the NDC, with Kwankwaso describing Obi as a leader Nigerians can rely on.
‘I’m Coming to the End of It’
In one of the most revealing moments of the interview, Obi suggested that his 2027 presidential bid could represent the closing chapter of his personal ambition for the presidency.
He said younger Nigerians should eventually be allowed to take over, noting that he would be approaching his late 60s by the end of a potential first term.
The comment adds a generational dimension to his campaign and could become an important part of the argument surrounding his candidacy as the 2027 race gathers momentum.
Asked what his inauguration day would look like if he won, Obi said it would be a day of deep reflection.
But he immediately returned to the central promise of his campaign.
His first action, he said, would be to begin cutting the cost of governance.
For Obi, the message is increasingly clear: before asking Nigerians to endure the pain of reform, the political class must first surrender the privileges that make sacrifice easier to demand than to practise.
