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From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Peter Obi Media Office has pushed back against claims that the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate urged Nigerians living abroad to abandon their families at home, saying his message was about ending the economic hardship that makes millions of households depend on relatives overseas for survival.
In a statement issued on Monday night and signed by its spokesman, Idris Zekeri Jnr., the office said the controversy arose from what it described as a distorted presentation of Obi’s remarks during an engagement with Nigerians in Europe, alleging that portions of the video had been edited and stripped of the context needed to understand his message.
Zekeri said Obi neither intended to discourage support for family members nor questioned the sacrifices Nigerians in the diaspora make for their loved ones.
“Peter Obi’s remarks were never intended to encourage Nigerians abroad to abandon their parents, siblings, or other loved ones in Nigeria. Nothing could be further from the truth,” the statement said.
The office acknowledged that many Nigerians abroad shoulder significant financial responsibilities at home, including paying school fees, covering medical bills, providing food and helping relatives cope with difficult economic circumstances.
It, however, argued that the need for such support on a sustained basis underscored the urgency of addressing the conditions that leave families struggling to meet their most basic needs.
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According to the office, Obi’s position is that Nigerians should be able to earn decent incomes, access affordable healthcare and secure quality education for their children without depending on financial transfers from family members living outside the country.
The office said Nigeria’s abundant human and natural resources should translate into better living conditions for its citizens, rather than a situation in which relatives abroad become indispensable to the survival of households back home.
“Peter Obi’s vision is to create a Nigeria that works for all, a country in which remittances from the diaspora support national development instead of being essential to families’ survival,” it said.
The statement maintained that the issue was not whether Nigerians abroad should continue to support their families, but whether a country with Nigeria’s resources should leave so many households reliant on such assistance in the first place.
It described Obi’s message as a call to confront the roots of poverty rather than merely manage its consequences, arguing that lasting improvement in living conditions would reduce the financial pressure on Nigerians overseas while giving their families greater economic independence.
“He is not asking Nigerians abroad to stop supporting their families. Rather, he is advocating for a Nigeria in which their families will no longer need to depend on them in order to survive,” the statement said.
