2027: Don’t Be Distracted, Obi Media Office Tells Nigerians

The Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR) has urged Nigerians not to be distracted by what it described as “the trivialities of the ruling class,” but to remain focused on the country’s deepening economic and governance challenges ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The media office, in a statement on Wednesday by its spokesman, Idris Zekeri Jnr, said reactions to the recent television interview granted by the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, had exposed what it called a deliberate attempt by the ruling establishment to shift public attention away from the real issues confronting the nation.

According to the statement, Obi had used the interview to highlight “the structural defects in our governance, the crippling economic hardship, and concrete steps toward national revival,” but rather than engage those issues, “paid political operatives, propaganda machinery, and elements aligned with the ruling establishment” chose to focus on what it termed “minor slips” and “non-issues.”

The POMR said the development reflected a familiar pattern in Nigerian politics, where substantive national conversations are often replaced with controversies designed to distract citizens.

“After the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) Presidential Candidate painstakingly outlined the structural defects in our governance, the crippling economic hardship, and concrete steps toward national revival, the public has once again witnessed the predictable reflex of the ruling class: a desperate scramble to weaponise minor slips, cherry-pick narratives, and elevate non-issues over critical national debate,” the statement said.

It argued that while millions of Nigerians continue to battle hyperinflation, food insecurity, rising energy costs, widespread unemployment and worsening insecurity, political actors have remained preoccupied with issues that do not address the country’s pressing needs.
“This is not an accident; it is a calculated political strategy designed to keep the public emotionally agitated and intellectually distracted from demanding real accountability,” it added.

The Obi media office maintained that Nigeria’s greatest challenge was poor governance and not political rhetoric.
“Nigeria is in a crisis of governance, not a battle of soundbites,” it stated, adding that the country urgently needs meaningful discussions on reviving the economy, restoring the value of the naira, securing lives and property, and transforming Nigeria from “a consumption-driven economy to a productive powerhouse.”

Rejecting what it described as the “rules of engagement set by the ruling class,” the organisation said the Obi-Kwankwaso Movement and its supporters would not be drawn into “the gutter of trivial controversies created by those who have failed the nation.”
It further stated that those responsible for Nigeria’s current challenges should not be allowed to dictate the national conversation.

The POMR also appealed to Nigerians, particularly the youth, and the media to remain vigilant and resist what it called diversionary propaganda.
It urged citizens to demand answers to questions affecting their daily lives, including government plans to curb food inflation, secure farms and highways, and lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty.
“Whenever the handlers of this administration attempt to turn a national conversation into a circus of irrelevancies, ask them the hard questions: Where is the plan to lower food inflation? How do we secure our farms and highways? What is being done to rescue millions falling below the poverty line?” the statement said.

Reaffirming Obi’s commitment to his vision for the country, the media office said he remained dedicated to building “a new Nigeria built on competence, character, transparency, and actionable solutions.”
It added that “no amount of coordinated distraction or smear will deter him from speaking truth to power and standing firmly with the Nigerian people.”

The statement concluded by urging Nigerians to keep their attention on issues that directly affect their welfare, stressing that “a new Nigeria is possible, but only if we refuse to be distracted.”