Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi and the party’s Kogi East senatorial candidate, High Chief Peter Ameh, have called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to guarantee a free, fair, transparent and credible process for the 2027 general elections.
The two leaders spoke in Ogugu, Olamaboro Local Government Area, during a thank-you tour organised to celebrate Ameh’s emergence as the NDC’s senatorial flag bearer for Kogi East.
Received by a large crowd of supporters, Obi urged INEC to resist any pressure to tilt the electoral process in favour of a particular party, insisting that the will of Nigerian voters must be respected at the polls.
“What is most important is that we want this campaign to be issue-based,” Obi said. “We want all candidates to go round Nigeria and ask questions about the challenges confronting the people.”
He said he had made a point of engaging ordinary citizens directly during his trip to Kogi, recounting a stop at Ugbolafo, Otukpa Junction, where he spoke with elderly residents about the difficulties they face — an approach he urged other presidential aspirants to adopt.
“I am moving around Nigeria to see how we can do the right thing,” he said, adding that the next administration must prioritise education, environmental security and a decent standard of living for citizens.
Speaking further to journalists, Obi expressed alarm at Nigeria’s worsening economic and social conditions, stressing the need for visionary leadership to steer the country out of its present difficulties.
“I am not worried about what the outcome of the 2027 general election will be. What worries me is the people and how they will protect their votes on election day,” he said, adding that widespread hunger and poverty were the reasons behind his visit.
He called on voters to safeguard their ballots and to choose leaders based on “competence, capacity, character, compassion and commitment” to national development.
Touring rural parts of the state, Obi said he was troubled by the living conditions he witnessed, particularly the underuse of the region’s agricultural potential.
“Look at our rural areas with huge farmlands. Nobody is supporting the farmers in all ramifications to enable them to produce the food we need to feed the nation,” he said, reiterating his call for leadership capable of reversing the country’s trajectory.
In his remarks, Ameh said Kogi East’s abundant fertile land and mineral resources meant its people had no reason to remain impoverished, pointing to the coal-rich community of Ankpa as an example of neglect.
“Kogi East is really blessed. We should not have decayed infrastructure,” he said. “Despite having coal in Ankpa, the roads are bad, and people cannot access Enjema properly, despite over 200 trucks leaving the coal site daily.”
He said the region needed lawmakers who would represent its interests at the National Assembly and press for solutions to long-standing infrastructural challenges.
Ameh also described the state’s primary healthcare system as having collapsed entirely, calling the situation across Kogi’s nine local government areas unacceptable.
“Our primary healthcare system here in Kogi is dead across the nine local government areas,” he said, urging voters to scrutinise candidates’ track records before the polls.
“For me, I have already buried my personal interest in ensuring that the interests of the people become our interest. The people must come first.”
Ameh alleged that previous elections in the area had seen the people’s votes “stolen,” and charged residents to remain vigilant in defending their ballots in 2027.
“They have served us before, but these votes were stolen,” he said. “Today, we are charging the people to go out, vote and protect their votes because it is through the votes they cast that we will have good roads and basic amenities.”
He called for renewed investment in public schools and health institutions, saying it was time for experienced leaders with a demonstrated record of transforming their areas of responsibility to step forward.
“Such people should come on board and protect our collective interests,” Ameh said.
