‘We strategise about 2027, while Nigerians struggle to survive 2026’ – Peter Obi

Former presidential candidate and African Democratic Congress chieftain Peter Obi has delivered a stinging rebuke of Nigeria’s political class, accusing leaders of obsessing over the 2027 elections while a worsening security crisis claims thousands of lives across the country.

In a post on X on Sunday, March 1, Obi claimed that over 1,000 Nigerians were killed and thousands more abducted between January and February 2026, describing the scale of violence as worse than that of nations officially at war. He criticised what he called the “politics of zero humanity,” accusing political leaders of prioritising 2027 election calculations over the safety of citizens.

“We debate power sharing while citizens are sharing funeral programmes. I watched in tears as families in the Doruwa Babuje community in Plateau State buried their dead after attacks by armed terrorists, but our media and leaders were focused on discussions about party issues and the 2027 elections,” Obi wrote.

Obi alleged that more than 25 states across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones had experienced significant violence in 2026 alone, including kidnappings, mass shootings, village invasions, and assaults on worshippers and travellers from Zamfara, Kwara and Kebbi in the north to Edo, Ondo and Benue in the south.

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Reacting to a fresh terrorist attack on Ngoshe community in Borno State, which reportedly targeted a military base and an IDP camp, Obi accused the government of responding with “dead silence,” saying: “The ruling class are instead devastatingly more preoccupied with how to snatch, grab, and run away with the next election.”

“Nigeria deserves a leadership that values human life above all else. We must act now for today’s victims, for tomorrow’s children, and for the Nigeria we all deserve,” he added.

Obi urged the authorities to elevate human life to “sacred status in our national priorities,” warning: “History will not remember how many strategies we perfected for 2027; it will remember whether we acted when Nigerians were dying.”

The Presidency had not formally responded to Obi’s remarks at the time of publication.