Peter Obi is a renowned politician and businessman, he was the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the concluded 2023 general elections.
Early life and education
Peter Gregory Onwubuasi Obi CON was born on the 19th of July 1961 into a Christian family in Onitsha, Anambra state, Nigeria.
Education
He completed his secondary education at Christ the King in Onitsha. He was admitted into the university of Nigeria,Nsukka and had a degree in philosophy in 1984. He also attended the Lagos business school, Nigeria, London school of economics, Columbia Southwest School in New York,USA, the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts, Institute for management development in Switzerland, George business School at Cambridge University and the Kellogg graduate school of management in the United States.
Married life:
Peter obi is happily married to Mrs Magaret Brownson Obi and the marriage is blessed with 2 children.
Career
Being raised in a trading family, Obi started his career as a trader and a banker before moving into the world of 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.
Political career
Peter Obi contested for the governorship election of Anambra State in 2003 as a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), but Chris Ngige of the People’s Democratic Party was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Few years after, the Court of Appeal reversed Ngige’s victory on March 15, 2006.
Obi took office as the state’s governor on March 17, 2006. After only seven months in office, he was impeached by the state house of assembly on November 2, 2006, and Virginia Etiaba, his deputy, who later became Nigeria’s first female governor, took over the following day.
The Court of Appeal in Enugu reinstated Obi as governor on February 9, 2007, after he successfully challenged his impeachment.
On May 29, 2007, Obi left the government after Andy Uba won the general elections. Obi returned to court, arguing that the four-year term he had won in the 2003 elections had only just started to run when he took office in March 2006.
On June 14, 2007, the Nigerian Supreme Court upheld Obi’s claim and ruled out Andy Uba’s victory and reinstated Obi.
On 7 February 2010, Obi defeated Professor Charles Chukuma Soludo,the former CBN governor and was declared the winner of th e2010 Anambra State gubernatorial election by the Independent National Electoral Commission . Owing to this victory, he serve as the governor of Anambra state for 4 years.
On 17 March 2014 Obi served out his second tenure and handed over the governorship to Willie Obiano.
He gained new status as an advocate for good governance and national political figure after decamping to the Peoples Democratic party.
Obi was appointed as the chairman of the Nigerian Security and Exchange Commission in 2015 by president Goodluck Jonathan after the 2015 General Election.
On 12 October 2018, Peter Obi was named as the running mate to Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s Presidential Candidate in the 2019 presidential election.
As a candidate for Vice President, Obi opposed proposals for a standardized national minimum wage, arguing that different states should have different minimum wages.
Obi became a public figure in 2022,after declaring his intention to run for the 2023 presidential election under the umbrella of the people’s democratic party but later resigned and registered under the labour party and since then has gotten huge supports from young Nigerians owing to his business background and involvement in politics.
Net worth
Peter Obi is a successful businessman and a wealthy politician. He has an estimated net worth of about $10 million.
Awards and honors
Here’s a summary of the awards and honors received by Peter Obi.
2015: Won the Golden Jubilee Award by Catholic Diocese of Onitsha.
2014: Won the Golden Merit Award by the Nigerian Library Association.
2014:Won the Most Outstanding Igbo Man of the Decade by the Champion Newspaper.
2014: Won the Award for Outstanding Example in Leadership and Governance by the The Voice Newspaper.
2013: Won the Man of the Year award by silverbird.
2012: Won the Man of the Year by the Business Hallmark Newspaper .
2012: Won the Golden Award on Prudence by the Methodist Church of Nigeria.
2012: Won the Leadership and Good Governance Award by the Ezeife Leadership Foundation.
2012: Won the Best Performing Governor on Immunization in South-East Nigeria by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
2011: Zik Leadership Prize by Zik.
2010: Won the Governor of the Year by the West Africa ICT Development Award.
2009: Won the Nigeria’s Most Trustworthy Governor by the Champion Newspaper.
2009: Won the Most Prudent Governor in Nigeria by This Newspaper.
2007: Won the Man of the Year award by the Sun Newspaper.