”The Obidient Movement once stood as a shining symbol of youthful energy, civic awakening, and political rebirth in Nigeria. During the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s flag bearer, rode on the crest of their passion, attracting millions of young Nigerians who saw in him a break from the corrupt status quo.
But two years after that historic campaign, cracks are beginning to tell a different story – one of betrayal, mismanagement, and scandals that cut deep into the heart of the very ideals the movement once professed.
We are yet to recover from the scandal involving Aisha Yesufu over alleged financial improprieties with campaign funds.
Kenneth Okonkwo also left the Obidient movement over what he called the insincerity and inconsistency of Obi.
He has since pitched his intent with former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, and has remained a virulent critic of the former Anambra governor.
There was also Lamidi Apapa and several physical and verbal assaults Obi’s extremists hurled at him. Now, there is Julius Abure, a former close ally of Obi who now leads a separate faction of Labour Party from the one the latter leads.
While critics describe Obi as an Internally Displaced Politician (IDP) with no political party on whose platform he would seek election in 2027, his supporters are simply disillusioned over his confusion. They find it shocking that he has pitched his tent with the ADC coalition despite knowing that it is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) meant for the actualisation of Atiku’s long-held ambition.
The latest scandal emerged from Edo State, where Morris Monye, the Obidient Movement’s Director of Mobilisation, disclosed that N1 million meant for campaign mobilisation was squandered by a supposed loyalist on football betting.
According to Monye, the movement had no official account in Edo, so funds raised were entrusted to a member of the local chapter. But when it came time to use the money, excuses piled up – until the truth surfaced: the funds had vanished into a Chelsea vs PSG betting slip.
“He eventually confessed to using the money for betting. We had to involve the police, and he was forced to refund it,” Monye said in a post on X.
The scandal quickly went viral, drawing ridicule and fresh questions about the financial integrity of the Obidient family.
Beyond Edo, the national Labour Party has been plagued by its own money troubles. In March 2023, the party’s National Treasurer, Oluchi Opara, accused Abure of mismanaging over N3.5 billion in campaign donations. According to her, the money flowed in from Nigerians at home and abroad, but much of it allegedly never reached state chapters or grassroots organisers.
Abure denied the claims, dismissing Opara as a “disgruntled officer,” but the allegations fractured the party’s leadership. Legal battles, suspensions, and counter-suspensions followed, leaving the Labour Party trapped in a storm of accusations with little transparency.
Even some of Obi’s most vocal allies have not been spared. Aisha Yesufu, who was a co-convener of the Bring Back Our Girls movement and one of Obi’s fiercest defenders, faced criticism from within the Obidient ranks over her role in handling donations.
Though she has consistently denied wrongdoing and insisted that all funds she managed were transparently accounted for, critics argued that the movement never had a clear, centralised structure for donations — leaving room for suspicion, finger-pointing, and mistrust.
The scandals stand in stark contrast to the values the Obidient Movement championed during the campaign. Obi’s “new Nigeria” pitch was built on accountability, integrity, and a rejection of the waste and corruption associated with Nigeria’s old guard.
But post-election realities tell a different story: accusations of diverted funds, internal rivalries, and broken trust. From Edo’s betting scandal to billions in alleged embezzlement at the national level, the Obidient Movement’s moral high ground has been severely tested.
For Peter Obi, who still harbours presidential ambitions, these scandals pose a reputational risk. The Obidient Movement remains his strongest political base, but repeated tales of missing funds and poor accountability risk alienating the very youth who built the momentum behind his candidacy.
In all these, Obi has failed to show leadership in uniting his base and his party. He ran to ADC at the slightest test of his leadership quality. And this is a pattern, that was how he abandoned the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), a legacy party late Emeka Ojukwu handed over to him and which he promised never to abandon. He also ran out of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) when he saw that the party’s ticket would not be handed to him on a platter. He is in ADC now and he is floating… waiting to move again to God knows where—
Whether the Obidient family can regain credibility depends on one thing: transparency. Without it, the movement that began as Nigeria’s loudest cry for change may well be remembered as just another political project consumed by the same vices it once condemned.Pay Attention Viral Video Of 56-Years-Old Father Slept With His 15-Years-Old Daughter Because Of. See Full Video Here.”
