BY AHMED AKANBI
Activist and Peter Obi supporter, Aisha Yesufu, has urged Nigerians to fund the former Anambra State governor’s 2027 presidential campaign, saying the responsibility cannot be left to Obi alone.
Yesufu made the appeal in a video shared on her X account, urging supporters of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), presidential candidate to embrace a citizen-funded campaign.
She said Nigerians seeking political change must be willing to pay for it, rather than expect Obi to bear the entire financial burden of the election.
According to her, even small contributions could sustain campaign activities and give ordinary citizens a real sense of ownership of the process.
“My fellow citizens, Peter Obi cannot do this alone, there is no way we can say that we want to rescue the nation, we want to get back our nation, we want the people to own this nation, and then we say that we are going to leave everything to Mr Peter Obi to fund,” she said.
Yesufu recalled that a similar fundraising exercise was organised in 2023, although Obi was initially uncomfortable soliciting public donations.
She said she persuaded him to allow supporters to contribute, arguing that financial participation would make them more emotionally invested in the campaign.
“Mr Peter Obi never wanted us to use public fundraising, but I remember saying to him, people need to be involved, and when people give, they are emotionally invested,” she said.
She said the 2023 exercise attracted donations from different supporters and was properly documented and accounted for, and the same approach must be sustained ahead of 2027.
“It can no longer work. Every one of us has to put in our own widow’s mite,” she said.
Yesufu clarified that the account being promoted was specifically for Obi’s campaign activities and separate from the NDC’s official fundraising arrangements.
She said the party would provide its own account details for supporters interested in contributing directly to its operations, and cautioned against sending party donations into the campaign account.
Addressing concerns over management of donations, she promised transparency and accountability.
“In 2023, I was accountable, and I accounted for every dime, and in 2027, by the grace of God, I will also be accountable, and I will account for every dime,” she said.
Obi contested the 2023 presidential election on the Labour Party platform, finishing third behind Bola Tinubu of the APC and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP.