The Candidates of PDP. |
Just take a look at
this very intimidating profile of former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter
Obi, and tell me who else is more fit as a Vice President-Candidate To Alhaji
Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP for the 2019
presidential election.
NAME: Mr. Peter Gregory
OBI, (CON)
DATE OF BIRTH:
19th July 1961,
PLACE OF BIRTH:
Onitsha, Nigeria
NATIONALITY:
Nigerian
MARITAL STATUS:
Married with two children
EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS ATTENDED
· Christ the King
College, Onitsha (W.A.S.C.)
. University of
Nigeria, Nsukka (B.A. Philosophy)
· Lagos Business
School, Nigeria (Chief Executive Program)
· Harvard Business
School, Boston, U.S.A. (Mid to Mid Marketing)
· Harvard Business
School, Boston, U.S.A. (Changing the Game)
· London School of
Economics (Financial Mgmt/Business Policy)
· Columbia Business
School, New York, U.S.A. (Marketing Mgmt )
· Institute for
Management Development, Switzerland (Senior Executive Program)
· Institute for
Management Development, Switzerland (Break-Through Program for CEOs)
· Kellogg Graduate
School of Management, U.S.A. (Advanced Executive Program)
· Kellogg School of
Management U.S.A. (Global Advanced Mgmt Program)
. Oxford University:
Said Business School, (Advanced Mgmt& Leadership Program)
. Cambridge
University: George Business School (Advanced Leadership Program)
PREVIOUS POSITIONS
· Governor, Anambra
State of Nigeria (2006-2014)
· Honorary Special
Adviser to the President on Finance (till May, 2015)
· Member, Presidential
Economic Management Team (till May, 2015)
· Vice-Chairman,
Nigeria Governors’ Forum (2008-2014)
· Chairman, South-East
Governors’ Forum (2006-2014)
. Former Chairman:
Board of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
· Former Chairman:
Fidelity Bank Plc.
· Former Chairman:
Guardian Express Mortgage Bank, Ltd.
· Former Chairman:
Future Views Securities, Ltd.
· Former Chairman:
Paymaster Nigeria Plc.
· Former Chairman:
Next International (Nigeria) Ltd
· Former Director:
Guardian Express Bank Plc.
· Former Director:
Chams Nigeria Plc.
· Former Director:
Emerging Capital Ltd
· Former Director:
Card Centre Plc
MEMBERSHIP OF
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS
· Member, Nigerian
Economic Summit Group (NESG)
· Member, Nigerian
Chartered Institute of Bankers
· Member, British
Institute of Directors (IOD)
MEMBERSHIP OF FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT COMMITTEES
In my capacity as the
Governor of Anambra State, I served as a member of:
*Federal Government
Committee on Minimum Wage
*Federal Government
Committee on Negotiation with Labour on Subsidy
*Federal Government
Committee on Mass Transit
*Federal Government
Committee on Natural Resource
*National Economic
Council Committee on Power Sector Reform
*National Economic
Council Committee on Sharing of MDGs Funds
*National Economic
Council Committee on Accurate Data on Nigeria’s Oil Import and Export
*Agricultural
Transformation Implementation Council
*Sub-Committee on
Needs Analysis of Public Universities in Nigeria
*National Economic
Council Review Committee on the Power Sector
AWARDS & RECOGNITION'S
2015: Golden Jubilee
Award from Catholic Diocese of Onitsha for outstanding contribution
to quality healthcare delivery in St. Charles Borromeo Hospital in
particular and Anambra State in general, on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee
celebration of the hospital.
*2014: Nigerian
Library Association Golden Merit Award for remarkable improvement of libraries
in Anambra State, exemplified by our Government's construction of the Kenneth
Dike Digital State Library, remarkable upgrade of the Onitsha Divisional
Library, and provision of library facilities in secondary schools across the State.
*2014: Champion
Newspaper Most Outstanding Igbo Man of the Decade.
* 2014 The Voice
Newspaper (Holand) Achievers Award for Outstanding Example in Leadership and
Governance.
*2013: Silver Bird Man
of the Year (with Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State).
*2012: Business
Hallmark Newspaper Man of the Year.
*2012: The Golden
Award on Prudence – by the Methodist Church of Nigeria as the Most Financially
Prudent Governor in Nigeria.
* 2012: Leadership and
Good Governance Award by The Ezeife Leadership Foundation Award for restoring
peace and harmony to Anambra State.
* 2012: Best
Performing Governor on Immunization in South-East Nigeria – by Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation.
* 2012: Outstanding
Financial Planner and Manager – by the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion
for my resourcefulness and creativity in governance.
*2011: Zik Leadership
Prize.
*2010: ICT Governor of
the Year – by the West Africa ICT Development Award.
*2009: Champion
Newspaper Nigeria’s Most Trustworthy Governor Award.
*2009: Thisday
Newspaper Most Prudent Governor in Nigeria.
*2007: The Sun
Newspaper Man of the Year Award.
**The Nigerian MDGs
Office/UNDP Best Governor in the Implementation of the MDGs in Nigeria
INTRODUCTION OF
CONSTITUTIONAL AND OTHER MAJOR CHANGES IN NIGERIAN POLITICS
*He was the first
gubernatorial candidate in Nigeria to legally challenge to its logical
conclusion, his governorship electoral victory that was denied him. He won in
the Courts and reclaimed his mandate.
*He was the first
Governor in Nigeria to legally challenge his wrongful impeachment and was
reinstated by the Courts.
*He was the first
Governor in Nigeria to seek the interpretation of tenures of Governors when
INEC allowed elections to take place in Anambra State when his tenure had not
expired; the election already concluded was cancelled and he was allowed to
complete his tenure.
*He was the first
Governor to serve a 2nd term in both the new and old Anambra State, that is,
almost 40 years after creation of the State.
*He was the first
Governor, whilst still in Office, to be appointed a Special Adviser to the
President.
*He was the first
serving Governor to be appointed into the Presidential Economic Management
Team.
*He was among the
first Governors to be honoured with a National Award in 2011, while still in
office.
*Though the only
Governor whose political party was in government in only one State, he
was elected Vice-Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum twice.
*Though the only
non-PDP Governor in the South-East (made up of 5 States), he was elected by the
other 4 PDP Governors as their Chairman for 8 years rather than the usual one
year.
FUNDAMENTAL
ACHIEVEMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF ANAMBRA STATE (PARTIAL LISTING)
1. Anambra was the
first State to commence Sub-Sovereign Wealth savings, the first of its kind in
Sub-Saharan Africa. At a time many other Governors were leaving huge debts, I
left the equivalent of $500 million Dollars in investment as well as local and
foreign currency, including $156 million in Dollar-denominated bonds.
2. For the first time
in the history of Anambra State, Ambassadors and High Commissioners of notable
countries such as United Stated, Britain, Russia, European Union, South Africa,
Belgium, Israel, the Netherlands, Canada, among others, visited the State.
Before my tenure, Anambra was practically a pariah state blacklisted by the
Diplomatic Corps and international development partners.
3. Development
partners such as UNDP, UNICEF, the World Bank, DFID, the European Union etc.,
which hitherto were not in Anambra State started working with the State.
Anambra was consistently adjudged one of the best states in development
partnership and commitment to reforms for good governance.
4. He was recognized as Best Governor by the Millennium Development Goals Office (OSSAP-MDGs) and
the UNDP in the implementation of their programmes in Nigeria.
5. The Nigerian Debt
Management Office (DMO) rated Anambra as the least indebted state in Nigeria.
In spite of visible and measurable achievements recorded in various sectors,
the State under him did not borrow or raise bonds for her various projects.
6. The Senate of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria rated Anambra State as the most financially stable
state in the country.
7. The State's
ground-breaking return of schools to their original owners - Voluntary Agencies
(Churches) on 1st January 2009, and subsequent partnership with the Agencies in
Education, saw the State move from 24th position out of 36 States to Number One
in National Examination Council (NECO) and West African Examination Council
(WAEC) examinations for three consecutive years. This made the World Bank to
commission a study, led by the renowned Prof. Paul Collier of Oxford
University, on this revolutionary partnership and phenomenal achievement.
8. The State also
entered into strategic partnership with the Churches in the Health sector. This
symbiotic relationship resulted in a tremendous boost to health care because of
the services offered by health institutions owned by Voluntary Agencies, while
the State restored grants to the agencies and made available to them more than
50 million Dollars in various types of support.
10. Through
partnership with the Church in the Health sector, his Government funded the
transformation of -:
a: Iyienu Hospital,
Ogidi;
b: Our Lady of Lourdes
Hospital, Ihiala;
c: St Charles Borromeo
Hospital, Onitsha;
d: Holy Rosary
Hospital, Waterside, Onitsha; and
e: St. Joseph
Hospital, Adazi-Nnukwu.
His Government also
built the Joseph Nwilo Heart Centre in St. Joseph, Adazi-Nnukwu, where heart
operations are now being performed.
11. His Government won
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (1 Million dollars) as the
best-performing state in immunization in the South-East. With complementary
funding from our Government, they used the money to build 10 Maternal and Child
Care Centres across the State, particularly in rural communities, in
partnership with the Churches.
12. The State was the
first to procure and distribute more than 30,000 computers to secondary schools,
including 22,500 from HP. The Managing Director for Personal Systems Group HP
Inc, Mr. Fabrice Campoy described the deployment as the biggest of such
projects in the Middle-East and Africa.
13. Anambra State
Government provided Microsoft Academies to more than 500 secondary schools,
which the Head of Microsoft in Nigeria (Mr. Ken Span) described as the biggest
such deployment in Africa so far.
14. The State provided
Internet access to more than 500 secondary schools, which the CEO of Galaxy
Backbone (Mr. Gerald Ilukwe) characterized as incomparable to any in the
country.
15. More than 700
buses were provided to secondary schools in the State by our Government.
16. Boreholes were
provided in schools all over the State.
17. Numerous
classrooms were built in all the 177 communities of the State.
18 As part of the
efforts to turn around the economy of the State, a number of companies were
attracted to build their facilities in the Anambra State. A case in point is
SABMiller, the 2nd largest brewery in the world, which built their first Green
Field facility in the State, which is today one of the most successful
facilities they operate globally.
19. A number of other
companies followed the SABMiller initiative and were all supported and
encouraged under our Government; a good example is INNOSON Motor Manufacturing
Company, from which our government bought more than 1,000 vehicles.
20. Anambra State for
the first time started close collaboration with recognized government security
agencies (the Police, Army, Navy, Department of State Security, Civil Defence,
among others), offering them various types of support including provision of
more than 500 security vehicles. The improvement in security was phenomenal,
such that the former IG of Police (Abubakar Mohammed) lauded Anambra State for
not witnessing any bank robbery in my last three years in office.
21. To further enhance
security, Anambra State provided at least one security vehicle to each of all
the 177 communities in the State as well as various organizations such as
markets and Churches.
22. His Administration
conceived and built, from scratch, the first state-owned Teaching Hospital, Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu-Ojukwu teaching Hospital, Awka.
23. His Government
commenced the planned development of the Igbariam Campus of the
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu University, including the fencing, construction of
internal roads, electrification, construction of the Faculty of Law,
Auditorium, Administrative Block, Faculty of Agriculture, Management Building,
among others).
24. His Government
attracted the World Bank support on erosion - National Erosion and Watershed
Management Project (NEWMAP) - to Anambra State.
25. His Government was
the first to do Poverty Mapping in Nigeria, as a guide for the effective
implementation of our poverty-alleviation strategies.
26 His Government, for
the first time, undertook the aerial mapping of Awka as well as the production
of Structure Plans for Awka Capital Territory, Onitsha and Nnewi.
27. During his tenure
and with his Government's support, Anambra State became an oil producing State.
28. He built the first
Secretariat Complex to house State Government Ministries that were hitherto
scattered around the State.
29. His government
commenced the development of the 'Three Arms Zone' comprising Government
House/Governor’s Lodge, Legislative Building/Speakers Residence, and Judiciary
Building with Chief Judge’s Residence.
30. By the end of his
tenure in 2014, more than twelve (12) health institutions, including two
hospitals, had secured accreditation; when we took off in 2006, no health
institution in Anambra State was duly accredited.
31. Anambra State was
the first to undergo national peer review, which scrutinized State Governments
for good governance, through the State Peer Review Mechanism (SPRM), an
initiative of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum in collaboration with the DFID.
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