I took time to replay Mike Igni’s recent interviews on Arise Television and memories flew back. He is a former Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, who served most notably in Akwa Ibom State before retiring in 2022
There are moments in a nation’s life when a single individual does not merely participate in politics, but quietly redefines its possibilities. For me, Mr Peter Obi represents such a moment, and, in a different and connected sense, Mike Igini reflects what that moment meant institutionally.
Peter Obi proved that Nigeria is not beyond redemption. That competence can still find a voice. That integrity, though often mocked, can still inspire. And that even in a deeply flawed system, the seeds of a different future can still be planted.
In 2022, when Mr Peter Obi declared his intention to run for the presidency of Nigeria after due consultations and careful consideration, I did not expect him to make the impact he eventually did. I knew this man well enough to say, without hesitation, that he came far ahead of his generation. I knew that one of the greatest positive turns Nigeria could experience would be to have this uncommon man as her president.
But I also believed, or rather feared, that my dear country had gone far beyond redemption, especially on the issue of corruption. At that point, most Nigerian politicians did not win elections; they were simply rigged into office. I knew how providence had intervened repeatedly in his favour in the past, enabling him to recover his stolen mandate after thirty-three months of gruelling legal battles.
And I was willing to believe that it was precisely because of cases like his that election petitions were later restricted to just 180 days, six months, effectively ensuring that no petitioner would ever again recover a mandate unless he or she was favoured by the same entrenched cabal that has held Nigeria by the jugular for decades.
I also believed, perhaps with painful resignation, that this cabal had so thoroughly captured the country that what is right was no longer practised across critical institutions. The worst casualty, in my view, was the judiciary, once regarded as the last hope of the common man, but now widely seen as something far removed from that noble ideal.
Then Mr Peter Obi took off from a place both symbolic and fitting, the Anambra State Traditional Rulers Building within the Anambra State Government House, where he formally declared his interest on Thursday, March 24, 2022, with that now famous statement:
“Give me Nigeria and I will turn it around.”
He made that declaration before traditional rulers and representatives from the 181 communities in Anambra State. Moments later, he repeated the same message at the adjoining complex designated for the Presidents-General of those same communities. It was not just another political speech. It was a statement of conviction, delivered in a place that bore testimony to his record.
Incidentally, both buildings, along with virtually the entire Government House complex, were constructed under his leadership as governor, a quiet but powerful reminder that his words were not built on rhetoric, but on verifiable action.
From there, the historic journey began. He moved to Abuja to meet with stakeholders of his then party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, including the National Working Committee, the Board of Trustees, PDP Senators, and members of the House of Representatives. His message remained as consistent as it was concise:
“Nigeria can work. Give it to me and I will turn it around.”
From Abuja, PO proceeded to virtually all the state capitals of the federation, with the exception of Adamawa State, the home state of His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, which he deliberately avoided as a mark of respect for a man he still referred to as “boss.”
Now, I knew PO well, and nothing he said was new to me. But my interest shifted to something more critical, the reaction of Nigerians, particularly those from Northern Nigeria, to his firm, hope laden message. What I witnessed was nothing short of remarkable. From visible excitement on faces to obvious sincerity in responses, it became clear that his ideas were hitting the right chords.
I must pause here to acknowledge the efforts of Sumner Shagari Sambo of Arise Television and Ogbodo of AIT News, who travelled with us across all 35 states and Abuja to feed their numerous leaders with a refreshing brand of political news. At the very beginning, we were literally just two individuals tweeting from a single room. But the very professional visual reportage of these two media houses amplified the message beyond what we could have imagined.
Then, almost suddenly, it happened.
From nowhere, it emerged.
The OBIdient Movement.
On March 16, 2022, something quietly historic unfolded at the PDP National Secretariat in Abuja. Young Nigerians converged at the gate, not under the banner of any political elite, but under the force of a rising conviction. They came with placards, voices, and an unmistakable message: “Give us Peter Obi for President.”
It was not a state-sponsored rally. It was not choreographed by party machinery. It was raw, organic political emotion finding its way to the very heart of Nigeria’s oldest ruling establishment. In that moment, the distance between political calculation and popular desire became visible. What the cameras captured in fragments, the nation felt in full force – the early tremor of what would later become a political movement.
Following that Abuja mobilisation, similar youth-driven gatherings and demonstrations of support for Peter Obi began to surface in cities such as Jos, Lagos, Enugu, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Awka and several other state capitals. Though not centrally coordinated, these dispersed expressions reflected a rapidly spreading political sentiment that was beginning to take national shape.
This was how the OBIdient Movement happened.
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I knew such gatherings usually were sponsored by the beneficiary, but PO did not even know the events were taking place until he watched them, like most people, from television and social media.
It now dawned on me that there were, and still are, Nigerians in their millions who know what is right and are yearning to be part of doing the right things. Before PO started his campaign for the presidency, I had thought that our country had lost this generation.
What Peter Obi revealed to me, above all else, is that Nigeria is not a finished project. It is wounded, yes. It is battered, yes. But it is not beyond repair. The assumption that corruption, cynicism and institutional decay had permanently defeated the5 moral instincts of the people was simply not true.
He showed that there is still a reservoir of civic intelligence in this country, waiting for the right trigger. That a generation often dismissed as distracted or disillusioned can, in fact, organise itself around ideas rather than inducement. That hope is not extinct; it is only waiting for credible leadership to awaken it.
And perhaps most importantly, he proved that in a country where political trust has been systematically eroded, one man’s consistency can still ignite mass belief without traditional structures, without coercion, and without the usual instruments of political manipulation.
That, for me, is not just a political lesson.
It is a national revelation.
And I strongly believe that it is the reason why Mike Igini, the former INEC REC has re-emerged to strongly champion the cause for credibility in the coming election.
by Tai Emeka Obasi
