ASABA, DELTA STATE — Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi on Saturday said Nigeria is facing a deepening crisis of poverty, hunger and insecurity, calling on citizens to unite across ethnic and religious lines ahead of the 2027 general elections. Obi spoke in Asaba during the formal declaration and integration of the Delta State Obidient Movement into the African Democratic Congress (ADC), a move that signals evolving opposition alignments ahead of the next national poll.
In his remarks, Obi said Nigeria now has “about 150 million” people living below the poverty line and described the trend as unacceptable for a country of Nigeria’s size and resources. He argued that worsening hardship has made identity politics less relevant to daily survival, saying neither tribe nor religion makes basic goods cheaper for ordinary Nigerians. He also criticized post-subsidy economic management, alleging that federal borrowing has accelerated since fuel subsidy removal.
Obi further claimed that Nigeria has become one of the world’s most insecure and hungriest countries, framing governance failure as the central driver of the crisis. “This country is not poor; it is being badly led,” he said, insisting that the ADC platform must focus on practical fixes rather than rhetoric. Senator Andrew Uchendu, ADC Deputy National Chairman (South-South), echoed that message, saying the country has underperformed across key sectors.
Recent humanitarian and security data broadly support concerns about severe distress, though some political figures’ headline comparisons remain contested. The UN warned in January that about 35 million Nigerians are at risk of hunger in 2026 amid aid shortfalls and insecurity in conflict-affected regions. Separately, the 2025 Global Hunger Index ranks Nigeria among the worst-performing countries, with a “serious” hunger score.
On poverty, Nigeria’s own 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index estimated roughly 133 million people as multidimensionally poor at that time. World Bank datasets also show high poverty incidence by national and international lines, but methodologies differ, making cross-country political comparisons difficult without specifying the metric and year.
With campaigning blocs beginning to reposition two years before the vote, Obi’s Asaba speech appears aimed at converting economic frustration into a broader anti-incumbent coalition message for 2027.
