Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, has said anyone caught rigging an election under his administration would be jailed, even where a single vote is involved. He made the pledge in an interview on Arise News on Thursday, 24 September 2026, ahead of the 16 January 2027 general election.
“I’ve said it, and I’ll say it again: if I am the serving president of this country, whoever rig elections will be in jail. Even for one vote, you will be in jail,” Obi said in the interview.
The former Anambra governor tied the remark to a wider message on electoral conduct and opposition politics. He said opposition parties would not be harassed under his government and would be carried along on decisions of national importance, including when he travels abroad.
“No political party will be harassed; we will support them,” he said, adding that his government would invite the opposition into decisions on matters of state. Obi framed the appeal as protecting the democratic space rather than promoting his own candidacy.
To illustrate the point, he drew on his record as governor of Anambra between 2006 and 2014. He said he lent his convoy to former Lagos governor Babatunde Fashola to campaign in the state, accompanied former President Olusegun Obasanjo on a visit to campaign for a rival candidate, and hosted former Abia governor Orji Uzor Kalu when he came to canvass for Uche Ekwunife.
“That’s democracy, because I wanted the people to vote. There was no issue,” Obi said of those episodes.
He also returned to the long-running dispute over Anambra’s finances, rejecting claims that he left the state owing 123 million dollars. Obi said he did not approach any financial institution to borrow or issue bonds on behalf of the state during his eight years in office.
According to Obi, the state owed no salaries, gratuities, pensions or verified contractors when he left. He said the World Bank and International Fund for Agricultural Development facilities cited in the debt claims were concessionary loans obtained by the Federal Government and on-lent to qualifying states, not commercial borrowing by his administration.
Obi put Anambra’s foreign debt at about 18 million dollars when he took office and about 30 million dollars when he handed over in March 2014. He said the state also held more than 150 million dollars in dollar-denominated savings invested in bonds, earning about 10 million dollars a year, which he argued would have covered any obligation being claimed.
He urged the broadcaster to publish his handover documents and verify the figures with the World Bank and the Nigerian banks named. “The World Bank is in Abuja; they can give you the history of the drawdowns,” he said, asking that the banks be contacted directly.
These claims have not been independently reconciled, and the Anambra State Government has maintained that it is still servicing obligations from that period. The competing positions remain unresolved in the public record.
Obi said he had no quarrel with the current governor, Chukwuma Soludo, describing him as a respected elder brother and the governor of his state. He said the two remained on cordial terms despite the debt argument.
Turning to the presidency, Obi criticised President Bola Tinubu’s absence from the country, saying the President had stayed away longer than initially announced. “The CEO being present is critical at a time of crisis, not delegation,” he said, arguing that Nigerians were entitled to know the President’s whereabouts.
On his own party structures, Obi distanced himself from a reported campaign council linked to the Obedient Kwankwasiyya Movement, saying it did not have his approval and should function as a support group rather than a parallel political body. “I was not aware, and that’s why I’m disapproving it here,” he said.
He also signalled openness to talks on opposition cooperation, including the possibility of a candidate stepping aside to strengthen the contest. “When he comes, I’m not desperate to be president; I’m desperate to see Nigeria work,” Obi said.
The interview comes as the opposition heads into 2027 divided across several platforms. Obi, who polled about a quarter of the vote in 2023 and finished third behind Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar, now runs on the NDC ticket with former Kano governor Rabiu Kwankwaso as his running mate, while Atiku carries the African Democratic Congress banner. That split has fuelled debate over whether a fragmented opposition could ease Tinubu’s path to a second term.
Obi said his focus was on ensuring the vote is free, fair and peaceful. “We should all come together and save democracy,” he said, urging opposition parties to campaign on issues affecting ordinary Nigerians.