PETER OBI TO UMAHI: IF YOU WANT DEBATE, BECOME A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FIRST

July 12, 2026 • Dons Eze • 1 min read

Chude: Two Ex-Governors have publicly challenged you to a debate. One is David Umahi.(Minister of Works) who challenged you after you criticised the State of roads in Nigeria, are you going to accept the challenge?

Peter Obi: Well number one, What I did was I started the debate by standing on that road and saying this road was bad, the only reply would have been this road is good But I thank him, he is now repairing the road, the debate is closed.

There is no other thing to debate. If he now wants to invite me as a Presidential Candidiate for a debate, he has to go and pick a form and become a Presidential Candidiate.

The World Cup is going on, you cannot be outside and not qualified and be inviting the team playing in the World Cup to come and play with you.

I am a Presidential Candidate and All over the world, it is not all Presidential Candidates that go for debates, it is the top ones.

There is a qualification process. You cannot be in Division One and trying to invite a Premier League team to play against you. You play in your cycle.

Let him go and be a Presidential Candidiate first.
Peter Obi’s interview with Chude Jideonwo

Dons Eze

DONS EZE, PhD, Political Philosopher and Journalist of over four decades standing, worked in several newspaper houses across the country, and rose to the positions of Editor and General Manager. A UNESCO Fellow in Journalism, Dr. Dons Eze, a prolific writer and author of many books, attended several courses on Journalism and Communication in both Nigeria and overseas, including a Postgraduate Course on Journalism at Warsaw, Poland; Strategic Communication and Practical Communication Approach at RIPA International, London, the United Kingdom, among others.