• Says illicit money killing naira, vows to reset system
• Expert says Nigeria ripe for ballot revolution

Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, has sent a bold message to Nigeria’s political establishment, declaring that “those who refused to count the votes in the last election will themselves be counted in the next one.”

Speaking during the public presentation of a new book chronicling the 2023 presidential election, Obi told a packed audience of supporters, intellectuals and civil society leaders that the days of electoral impunity have paved the way for the movement for a new Nigeria.

At the event which attracted top political leaders who came to witness ‘The Renaissance of the Obidient Movement’, Obi delivered a blistering assessment of the country’s economic decay and the forces undermining its future, insisting that illicit money has continued to weaken the naira against the dollar.

Meanwhile, public intellectual and policy expert, Dr Sam Amadi, declared that Nigeria stands at the precipice of a national rebirth and must embrace a ballot-based revolution to reverse decades of decline. Obi stressed that the democratic will of the people must never again be subverted.

“This is not about me,” Obi said. “It is about the people. In 2023, they refused to count the votes. But I assure you, in the next election, they will be counted. We will count everyone who is part of this rotten system and remove them with the power of the ballot.”

Obi’s comments drew thunderous applause, resonating with a crowd still smarting from the conduct of the last general election, which many observers described as flawed and lacking transparency.

The former Anambra State governor lamented the deepening poverty, insecurity and hardship in the country, saying that Nigeria had become a “crime scene” in urgent need of rescue.

He urged citizens to remain committed to the cause of justice and accountability, calling for greater grassroots mobilisation and vigilance in future polls.

“You cannot be celebrating on a sinking ship,” Obi warned. “This country is going down fast. And unless we stop it, it will drown us all, rich and poor alike. We must dismantle this system that thrives on theft, waste and deception.”

Obi also criticised government officials and political elites for investing public funds in lavish lifestyles and endless renovations while millions of Nigerians go hungry and die from preventable causes.

He added: “Let no one deceive you; today’s government is not working for you. If they were, millions of our children wouldn’t be out of school, and millions more wouldn’t be wondering where their next meal will come from.”

Zeroing in on the chaos surrounding Nigeria’s foreign exchange market, the self-acclaimed trader argued that the problem was not about floating or fixing the naira but about purging the economy of stolen and dirty money.

“Money is supposed to be an exchange of value. But in Nigeria, corruption has turned money into a tool for stealing value instead,” he said. “You can’t talk about exchange rates when people are buying dollars with stolen money. To them, the rate doesn’t matter—it’s just more of the loot.”

Until the government addresses the flood of illicit funds in the system, he explained, the naira will never find its true value. Addressing the Obidient Movement audience, Amadi said: “Nigeria is not just failing; it is contradicting itself. Every attempt to solve our problems begins with the wrong diagnosis. In many cases, we’ve been fighting imaginary or misunderstood enemies.”

Quoting development economist, Douglass North, he noted that economic development should be assessed through poverty, unemployment and inequality.

“If these are the yardsticks, then Nigeria is sinking. By 2019, we became the world’s poverty capital. In 2025, we’re still haemorrhaging, 20 million more people are projected to fall into poverty this year alone.” He decried what he called a “nationality crisis,” stressing that a functional economy begins with a shared identity and purpose.

“We are not a nation in any real sense. We are a fragile geographic construct, fractured by ethnicity, religion and value collapse. In such a system, merit is punished, excellence is sidelined, and corruption becomes our default operating system.”

For Amadi, Obi has the pedigree, passion and personality to lead the revolution. “What we need is not just a leader, but a movement. A revolution not of blood, but of ballots, one that insists on ethical leadership, democratic civilisation, and true productivity.” He warned that time is short and the cost of failure is high.

With references to Singapore’s rise and warnings of Nigeria’s relative decline behind smaller West African nations, Amadi challenged the nation’s youth and thinkers: “We are not yet a great country; we are still stumbling. But if our young people reflect, organise and act on what they believe, they can disrupt the old order. They can make Nigeria new again.”