Kwankwaso has PhD, but Nigeria needs wealth creator like me – Obi

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Peter Obi

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By Henry Oduah

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Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has said that what Nigeria needs today is a wealth creator and manager like himself.

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Mr Obi told MD/CEO of News Central Kayode Akintemi on the programme ‘60 Minutes with Kay’ aired on Thursday that no presidential aspirant, including President Bola Tinubu, can match his experience as a wealth creator.

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He stated this in reaction to Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano State, who said at Chatham House in London in 2023 that he had a PhD and was more qualified to be president than be Obi’s running mate. Kwankwaso was the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) at the time.

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Both men have now joined the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), with Kwankwaso likely to become Obi’s running mate in 2027 after the party zoned the presidential ticket to the southern region where Obi comes from.

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“Qualification is a perspective and it depends on where you’re coming from. He (Kwankwaso) said he was more qualified because he has a PhD which is not bad. I don’t have a PhD,” Obi said.

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“He has some experience, he’s exposed. He was a minister. There’s no doubt about that. I don’t think his claim was wrong but for what Nigeria needs today, Nigeria needs a wealth creator, wealth manager.

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“I have built reputable businesses from scratch locally and internationally. Nobody today in this context, including the president, can claim to have passed through my experience.”

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Obi said in reaction to being tagged a “common trader” that trading and making money from it is one of the most difficult things to do else everyone would be a trader.

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“What Nigeria needs today is somebody that creates wealth, not somebody who shares wealth, somebody who can manage resources more efficiently and save for the future,” he said.

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