Peter Obi, the former Anambra State governor and Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, has emphatically denied any past employment with the late military ruler General Sani Abacha or any government prior to his political career.
Speaking during an interview on Channels TV’s ‘Sunday Politics’ program, Obi addressed long-standing rumors about his alleged ties to Nigeria’s former military regimes.
He asserted that his background was exclusively in private enterprise and commerce before he entered public office, clarifying that his first government role was as the elected governor of Anambra State.
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“I have never worked for any government before I became governor,” Obi stated.
“I was a very successful businessman. I was part of those controlling trade in Lagos.”
Obi recounted an incident from the mid-1990s, during the Abacha era, that he believes may have been misinterpreted.
He explained that Nigeria’s ports faced severe congestion due to import restrictions, a consequence of international backlash against the Abacha regime.
This situation posed a significant threat to numerous legitimate importers.
“When Abacha took over, they blocked the port, and goods were not coming in. We came to Abuja, about 50 of us. We were able to elucidate the problem we were facing,” Obi explained.
He clarified that the meeting with government officials at that time was purely business-driven, initiated by pressure from private stakeholders seeking solutions to the port gridlock.
This intervention, he noted, resulted in a presidential directive for the finance minister to immediately decongest the ports.
“The president directed the finance minister to decongest all the ports in Nigeria. When they finished after two weeks, they said it’s not the time to probe the ports,” he recalled.
Obi stressed that this meeting was neither an endorsement of the military regime nor did it constitute working for the government.
He firmly concluded, “I have never met Abacha, and I don’t know anything about the military.”
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