In this exclusive interview with the National Chairman of the Obidients Harmonisation Committee (OHC), Comrade Joseph Enan Maigari, set out to mobilise about 2 million Obidients volunteers nationwide. As a sequel to the 2023 general elections in Nigeria, the Obidients Movement, a Peter Obi-inspired support group has set its sight on the 2027 elections with the clear goal of mobilising over 2 million volunteers of the Obidients Harmonisation Committee across the country with the inauguration of its steering committees across the 36 states of the country and the FCT on June 8, 2024. In this explosive interview with the national chairman, Comrade Joseph Enan Maigari, he vowed that Obidients will not support a divided Labour Party.

Congratulations on the commissioning of the chairpersons of the Harmonization Committee members across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. It looks like one giant leap into the future, so give us an idea of what this movement is all about.

I remain Comrade Enan Joseph Magaji, Obidients Harmonization Committee (OHC) chairman National, the movement is all about uniting and bringing everyone. I mean every Obidient on board, those aggrieved to reconcile them towards forming a formidable force to move the country towards changing the narrative of this country because we have been battling with the bad government of parties like the APC which has nothing to show other than misery and total system collapse. There is nothing to write home about, so we need to form a strong pressure group that can take over this nation; this is what we are into now and we are ready to take over this country because 2027 is around the corner; we have to be smart enough to come together as youths, as a force, as a pressure group to take over the country and midwife the country of our dream.

Now with the inauguration of chairpersons of the harmonisation committee across the country, what next for Obidients?

For Obidients, this is just the beginning. This is at the periphery of our grand plan because Nigerians are done with this crop of politicians destroying the country, looting our economy and eating up the future of children yet unborn. What I am doing here today is part of our move, you can see that I am having a meeting in Adamawa State as the first outing to ensure a functional state system and structure at all state levels and this is for me a demonstration of how charity begins at home and our goal is to harmonise and reconcile aggrieved members of Obidients, so I must start from home. So, I am geared up and ready for the work. By the time I leave this place, I will be moving to another state to ensure that all interests are harmonised. We are thinking of going to Borno State or any other state, it is not yet officially announced but by God’s grace, I am planning and preparing to make sure that I visit every state in the country to ensure that everyone, I mean every Obidient and lover of Peter Obi, come onto the table including every youth in Nigeria, individuals committed to a new Nigeria, all of us together ready to fight the battle that is ahead of us, a battle for the rebirth of a new Nigeria; we deserve a better country, we deserve better leadership, and that is what we are fighting for not just a change of government.

What kind of impact are we expecting this phase of the Obidients Movement to make on the political turf of this country going forward?

The Impact we are strategising on is a plan to take over this country with our ideology and philosophy for a new government and purpose-driven governance within this political era because it does not make sense that we take the backbench of life in our own country, watching these people eating our country up like termites, because we have been molested; we have been killed, they have chased us with guns out of our homes and farmlands and now we are ready to fight back for the country of our dreams.

This country is ours and we have to take it back. We have the numbers that these selected few are burning the country up for their ends and greed; since democracy is a game of numbers, the youth of this country have the numbers to change the narrative of this country.

So, with this in mind sequel to the 2023 elections in Nigeria where the Obidients made a huge impact, what kind of difference should Nigerians expect at the end of the Harmonization phase and how would this process affect the polls because is like every circle of election, Nigerians go out to the polls and come back dissatisfied claiming that what they voted for is not what they got?

You can see the impact we made in the last general election which we still insist LP won and we went to court; we believe our mandate was stolen, a mandate we laboured for because anybody who labours must benefit from the fruit of his labour. They have taken our mandate and we know the mistakes I made and that is what we are working to correct. Come 2027, those mistakes will not repeat themselves in 2027.

So, to the political party you supported in 2023, there has been wrangling within the party with the Julius Abure-led group, what is the take of the Obidients Harmonisation Committee on this issue?

I cannot talk much on the issue of the party, the political party is an organization of its own, and we clients stand firm in supporting the Labour Party, it is not an individual. So, I am calling on the Labour Party, and the feuding parties having issues to shelve their grievances and form a united front together. We are ready as a Support group nationwide to support anyone as chairman of the Labour Party. We are not fighting any individual because our overall objective in the end is to see the change we want in this country. We are all members of the same country where we have seen our people chased from their farmlands and cannot feed themselves; we have seen our peaceful and law-abiding citizens turned into IDPs in our own country and it is something that affects every individual, every citizen of Adamawa State, of the nation. So, I am calling on Obidients to maintain our focus i.e. Peter Gregory Obi.

As Obidients, we are ready to support anyone who carries the Nigerian dream, like Peter Obi, because the Obidients movement is a coinage from Obi so that is why we are here; we are standing firm on what we believe. We support him one hundred per cent, and anywhere he moves, we can take our slippers and baggage and move with him. For us Labour Party is Peter Obi, without him, it is not our party, there is no doubt about this. We are a movement, much more like a pressure group on the mandate to change this country whether in the Labour Party or any other political party.

Okay right now as an indigene of Adamawa State, there is an ongoing preparation for the local government elections, what is your take?

We won’t stop anyone purchasing forms to run for any office, but as a support group, the Obidients movement, we are boycotting this election, in the sense that there is a power tussle in Adamawa State because we don’t know who is who; everybody is claiming that they are the state chairman of the party. So, I am calling on obidients to remain firm, they should remain calm, we are all in the Labour Party, and we are all supporting the Labour Party. I am not stopping any political party or Labour party from entering into the election but we as a labour obidients group, we are boycotting anyone who buys form and they should not expect any support from Obidients.

Why are you boycotting Adamawa State?

We are boycotting it because we don’t know the real executives of the party, hence, we don’t know who to support.

What about the credibility of the elections here in Adamawa State, are you satisfied with the amount of time they gave preparations?

No, I am not satisfied. You know when you’re holding power, you think that you have the whole world in your hands and that you can decide anything according to your game plans, that is how elections are held in our local communities. They know that some things need to be put in place before holding elections but the time frame is too short to participate in the elections and this is one of the things that informed our decision to boycott this local government election in Adamawa because of the constraints.

As an Obidients group, what do you make of this small picture of how elections are run in Nigeria especially when it comes to the local government which is considered one of the most important arms of government in the country not just here in Adamawa State but across the country; it is predictably true that only one-party claims victory of the entire elections from chairmanship to councillorship?

It is not a democracy if you look at it critically. We are not a democracy when some few people claim that they are the ones that own the state, no it is not done that way; everybody has a right to participate in the election; this points to the fact that there are so many things that need to be corrected, there are a lot of things that should be amended constitutionally.

So, what call will you make to all obedients across Nigeria?

I am calling on all Obidients to remain focused on the vision that a new Nigeria is possible. The Obidient movement is a pressure group that will soon take over this country. I want to appeal for all to come and join us in this movement. I don’t know what grievances you have; I don’t know what level of work you have done in the Labour Party or the Obidients structure; we are open to everyone. I am a servant and I am ready to work to serve Nigeria to the last of my breath. So, I am calling on Obidients to come and join this fight and see the end so that we would stop dancing in the market and coming back empty-handed. (Daily Sun)

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