A senior Labour Party official has delivered a stark message to former presidential candidate Peter Obi regarding his relationship with the Obidient Movement, asserting that you cannot control a political movement you did not build.
Grassroots Origins of the Movement
Marcel Ngogbehei, the Director General of the Labour Party's Directorate of Mobilization and Integration (DMI), issued a statement on Saturday urging Peter Obi to reconsider his role. Ngogbehei, who identifies as a founding Chairman of the Coalition for Peter Obi (CPO) and a pioneer of the Obidient Movement, emphasized that the movement was established by independent support groups and volunteers long before Obi formally joined the LP.
He detailed major mobilisation efforts that took place ahead of the 2023 elections, including nationwide rallies and leadership summits. In May 2022, over a dozen independent support groups came together under the Coalition for Peter Obi.
Ngogbehei revealed that these early efforts were entirely funded by volunteers. Peter Obi did not donate a kobo to that historic effort, he stated, highlighting that logistics and nationwide mobilisations were powered by ordinary Nigerians who believed in a new political alternative.
Internal Crisis and Leadership Disputes
The comments follow the recent resignation of Morris Monye, a prominent Obidient mobiliser, who cited challenges including a lack of support and coordination. Ngogbehei suggested this experience points to larger issues within the movement concerning leadership direction, appointment processes, and funding mechanisms.
He criticized Obi's decision in 2024 to appoint new leaders for the movement without consulting the foundational groups. Among those appointments was Dr. Yunusa Tanko, whose selection Ngogbehei described as unrepresentative of the movement's core supporters.
He further highlighted the financial struggles, noting that even the massive Global Obidient March in February 2023, which drew huge crowds across Nigeria and the diaspora, was executed with no central funding. Many volunteers are reportedly still in debt from donations made in anticipation of reimbursements that never materialized.
A Call for Reform and Core Values
While affirming he holds no personal grievance against Obi, Ngogbehei called for a fundamental restructuring of the movement's leadership. He advocated for a return to democratic, bottom-up leadership structures and greater transparency in resource management.
He also urged for clear communication with the founding groups and the reinforcement of the movement's core values beyond just electoral campaigns. The Obidient Movement remains underfunded, leaderless in function, and driven by the same unpaid volunteers who carried it on their backs from the beginning, he lamented.
Despite the challenges, Ngogbehei described the movement as wounded but not beyond recovery. He concluded with a powerful statement: You can't kill what you didn't create, reinforcing that enduring movements are people-owned, people-funded, and people-led.
