Photo: Peter Obi — Wikimedia Commons
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has dismissed President Bola Tinubu's claim that he ran away from erosion in Anambra State, saying he personally helped develop the erosion-control programme still in use today.
Obi spoke on Tuesday in an interview on Rhythm FM in Jos, Plateau State, ahead of an NDC town hall meeting in the state, according to reports by The Sun, TheCable and Vanguard.
- President Tinubu, at an APC rally in Uyo at the weekend, said Obi "ran away from erosion" as Anambra governor
- Obi says he took the erosion proposal to the late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, who directed the Environment Minister to develop it
- Fact-checkers have separately found records of Obi's role in the World Bank-backed NEWMAP erosion programme
What Obi said in Jos
"On what the president said while campaigning in Akwa Ibom, it's not true," Obi said. "I, working with the former minister of environment, developed what they're using today to fight erosion."
"I went to President Yar'Adua, made a suggestion to him. He called the minister and said he should go and develop it," he added.
Obi governed Anambra State from 2006 to 2014. The state has long battled severe gully erosion, which has swallowed homes, roads and farmland in several communities.
Why the erosion claim is contested
Tinubu made the claim at an All Progressives Congress rally in Uyo, contrasting Obi's record with environmental projects carried out in Lagos during his own governorship.
Independent fact-checks of the claim have pointed to the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), the World Bank-backed programme approved in 2012 while Obi was governor. Former Environment Minister John Odey was reported in 2014 as crediting Obi with an instrumental role in the project's creation, and the World Bank's then country director commended Anambra for being the first participating state to pay its 500 million naira counterpart contribution.
The same records also note that erosion remained a serious problem in Anambra during and after Obi's tenure, and that implementation of projects continued after he left office in March 2014.
Obi reacts: security, education and health
In the same interview, Obi defended his approach of visiting communities and listening to residents before presenting his programme, and identified insecurity in the North-Central as a major concern.
"Unless children go to school without fear, unless parents go to farms without fear, we don't have a country," he said. He pledged that his administration, if elected, would prioritise education, healthcare and insurance coverage for vulnerable Nigerians.
What happens next
The exchange is the latest in a running series of direct clashes between the President and the NDC candidate as campaigning for the January 16, 2027 election intensifies, following their subsidy exchange last week. NTN's Meet Your Candidates 2027 profile of Peter Obi is published today, examining his record, promises and controversies in full.
Read also: https://newstweetnaija.com/post/tinubu-in-dutse-subsidy-is-not-coming-back-dont-let-them-lie-to-you
Credit: The Sun, TheCable and Vanguard reports of November 10–11, 2026.
Follow @newstweetnaija on Instagram for the day's biggest stories.
