Senator Victor Umeh, former national chairman of APGA and current representative of Anambra Central, has said Peter Obi’s aversion to wasteful spending is evident even in his personal habits, recalling how Obi would travel with large amounts of cash and return without touching it.
Speaking in an interview posted by Symfoni TV a few hours ago, Umeh explained that Obi’s decision to leave the ADC for the NDC was driven by strategy, not instability. He said Obi had always been focused on providing service and understands when a political platform no longer served that purpose.
He described Obi as someone who avoided transactional politics and believed that real change required breaking from Nigeria’s pattern of expensive and wasteful governance.
To illustrate Obi’s discipline, Umeh recounted their early days in APGA around 2001. He said Obi would arrive from Lagos with a suitcase containing about 1.5 million naira in fresh notes for meetings in Anambra.
After traveling and meeting stakeholders, Obi would pack the same bag and leave with the money still intact, having made pledges instead of handing out cash. Umeh said Obi later fulfilled those pledges by sending cheques directly to institutions.
He added that Obi preferred to spend on hospitals, schools, and disaster relief rather than on political patronage. He compared this with typical politicians who would have spent the money immediately.
He also referenced Obi’s record as Anambra governor, noting that he left office with 75 billion naira and 150 million dollars in savings and investments. Umeh said this record explained why Obi criticized excessive borrowing and why millions had joined NDC since his arrival.
In his words, “When I told you how we started in 2001, Peter will come from Lagos to meet me in Enugu for us to go to Anambra, because I live in Enugu, to go and meet people, stakeholders, and all that. He will stay in the room, and I was observing him.”
“Peter will come, open his suitcase. I will see maybe 1.5 million Naira mint in that suitcase. He will close his bag. Then we’ll go to Anambra, move around, and talk to people, you know, when we return, on the day he will go back. I’ll be looking at him.”
“He will pack that bag, I’ll see those three bundles of money still in the bag. He won’t spend it, but he will be making pledges. Later he will send money, cheques, 100,000, 200,000, as the cost of things were at that time.”
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