Obi Critiques Religious Leaders for Praying for Criminals

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress for the 2027 election, criticized religious leaders for praying for politicians he labeled as criminals, stating this reflects a crisis in Nigeria. He spoke on Tuesday at the 2026 Goodluck Jonathan Foundation Democracy Dialogue in Bauchi, where he also condemned the judiciary and electoral system for declining standards.

Obi recounted his experience of spending three years in court contesting his election defeat, noting that five judges he had never met delivered judgments in his favor, which he deemed impossible in today's Nigeria. He further criticized the weakening of electoral safeguards, alleging that lawmakers had removed forgery as an electoral offense while lawyers defended forgery cases.

Obi warned that the current abuses would have dire consequences for future generations, urging a reversal of these trends. The dialogue's theme was “Beyond elections, can political parties and the judiciary save African democracy?”.