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“OBI DIDN’T DEMOLISH OUR MOSQUE!” — ANAMBRA NORTHERNERS REVEAL WHAT REALLY HAPPENED, ACCUSE POLITICAL OPPONENTS OF SPREADING LIES
AWKA/ONITSHA — Leaders of the Northern Community in Anambra State have launched a strong defence of former Anambra State governor and 2027 presidential candidate Peter Obi, rejecting allegations that he discriminated against northerners or ordered the demolition of a mosque during his administration.
The northern leaders described the allegations as politically motivated claims allegedly designed to tarnish Obi’s image ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking separately in Onitsha and Awka, the leaders insisted that northerners enjoyed a cordial relationship with the former governor and benefited from programmes introduced during his tenure.
Among those who spoke were Mahmud Ibrahim, Secretary of the Northern Community covering Anambra and Delta states; Alhaji Garba Haruna, traditional ruler of the Hausa Community in Awka; and Alhaji Gidado Sidikki, Chairman of the Northern Community in Anambra State.Ibrahim, a lawyer who said he had served the northern community for decades, delivered one of the strongest rebuttals to the mosque allegation.
He insisted that the mosque at the centre of the controversy was demolished before Obi became governor, making the allegation against the former governor, in his account, impossible.
According to Ibrahim, the mosque was destroyed in February 2006 during a reprisal attack associated with the Sharia crisis, while Obi assumed office as governor in March 2006.
Far from ordering the demolition, Ibrahim claimed Obi later visited northerners who had taken refuge at the Army Barracks in Onitsha and subsequently accompanied them back to the affected mosque.
He further alleged that Obi donated money towards the rebuilding of the mosque.The community leader therefore questioned why the former governor was now being accused of destroying a place of worship that, according to his account, had already been demolished before he took office.
Ibrahim also rejected claims that Obi forced northerners to obtain identity cards as a condition for remaining in Anambra.He explained that the identity cards issued by the Northern Community were an internal initiative designed to help identify its members.
He distinguished those cards from the Anambra State Identification and Registration System (ANIDS) card, which, he said, was issued to residents generally, irrespective of ethnic background.
According to him, Obi, his commissioners and other residents also had the state-issued identification cards.
The northern community leaders further maintained that northerners benefited from several programmes during Obi’s administration, including free education initiatives, agricultural loans and sponsorship for the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
Haruna, the traditional ruler of the Hausa Community in Awka, also rejected the allegation that Obi operated a discriminatory policy against northerners.
He said he never witnessed or heard of any policy under Obi that created a distinction between indigenes and non-indigenes.
The leaders’ statements have now added a fresh dimension to the growing political controversy surrounding Obi ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with the northern community representatives insisting that their personal experiences contradict claims being circulated by his political opponents.
They urged the public to scrutinise the timing and origins of the allegations, arguing that historical events should not be distorted for political advantage.
