PDP: Atiku Picks Ex-Anambra Governor, Peter Obi As Running Mate

Agency ReporterOctober 12, 2018

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Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who is the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party has reportedly picked Mr Peter Obi as his running mate for the 2019 presidential election.

Newsflash247 had earlier hinted that Atiku might select his vice-president among politicians like the former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, and the incumbent Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

Atiku Abubakar was holding talks with Peter Obi in Abuja on Friday evening.

Mr Obi arrived at Mr Abubakar’s residence in Asokoro neighborhood around 3:00 p.m. and both have been holding undisclosed talks.

The former vice president on Sunday became the presidential candidate of PDP, Nigeria’s main opposition.

Several options have been suggested in the public domain, with the candidate being widely expected to choose from either the Igbo-dominated Southeast or a Yoruba choice in the Southwest part of the country.

Peter Obi was born on July 19, 1961, in Onitsha, Anambra State. He attended Christ the King College in his hometown to get his secondary education. Then, he moved on to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he studied Philosophy from 1980 to 1984, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree with honours.

Obi attended multiple educational institutions focusing mostly on business. He took the Chief Executive Program at Lagos Business School, took courses on Mid to Mid Marketing and Changing the Game at Harvard Business School, went to the London School of Economics to study Business Policy and Financial Management and many more. He also attended Cambridge and Oxford’s business schools for Advanced Leadership Programs.

As for Peter Obi businesses, he is the chairperson of many a company. Over the years, he held this position at Fidelity Bank, Future Views Securities, Paymaster Nigeria and Next International. As a matter of fact, a lot of you might know him as Peter Obi, Fidelity Bank’s youngest chairperson. He was also a director at Guardian Express Bank, Charms Nigeria, Emerging Capital and Card Centre.

As you can see, there have been a lot of Peter Obi Companies over the years, so when he decided to go into politics, he has had a solid background in business.

In 2003, he participated in the gubernatorial election of Anambra State. Back then, Peter Obi party was All Progressives Grand Alliance. He lost to Chris Ngige from the PDP, but that did not stop Obi. It took three years to overturn the win of Ngige, so Obi became governor in March 2006. His term lasted for a little over half a year, as he was impeached in November 2006.

He returned to his post in February 2007. Once again, his time as Anambra State governor did not last long, as in 2007, Andy Uba won the elections. Obi contended this once more, because instead of four years in office he only had a little more than a year. The Supreme Court listened and nullified the elections, reinstating Obi to his position as governor.

After reaching the end of his tenure in 2010, Obi was re-elected for the second term, which lasted until 2014. Willie Obiano succeeded him.

He was a Honorary Special Adviser to the President on Finance and member of the Presidential Economic Management Team during Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency. He was also a member of multiple Federal Government committees. There have been rumours that he was going to run alongside Atiku Abubakar, but Obi dispelled the rumours.

Over the years, Obi has received multiple awards for his achievements. Here is a list of some of them:

Sun Newspaper’s Man of the Year (2007);
Thisday Newspaper’s Most Prudent Governor in Nigeria (2009);
Champion Newspaper’s Nigeria’s Most Trustworthy Governor (2009);
West Africa ICT Development Award for Governor of the Year (2010);
Zik Leadership Prize (2011);
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Best Performing Governor on Immunization in South-East Nigeria (2012);
Ezeife Leadership Foundation’s Leadership and Good Governance Award (2012);
Methodist Church of Nigeria’s Golden Award on Prudence (2012);
Business Hallmark Newspaper’s Man of the Year (2012);
Silverbird’s Man of the Year (2013);
The Voice Newspaper’s Award for Outstanding Example in Leadership and Governance (2014);
Champion Newspaper’s Most Outstanding Igbo Man of the Decade (2014);
Nigerian Library Association’s Golden Merit Award (2014);
Catholic Diocese of Onitsha’s Golden Jubilee Award (2015).