RismadarVoice Reporters, May 7, 2026
Former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Usman Yusuf, has stated that northern Nigerians will closely examine the record of Peter Obi, the former Anambra State governor and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, particularly regarding allegations concerning the treatment of northerners during his administration.
Speaking on Trust TV’s Daily Politics programme, Yusuf alleged that Obi’s administration introduced policies targeting northerners resident in Anambra State.
“The Muslim north, northern Nigeria will interrogate Peter Obi’s tenure when he was the governor of Anambra State,” Yusuf said.
“What he did to northerners in 2022. We all know that. He deported them. He even made them have ID cards, their names, where they are from, what their occupation is, in this Nigeria that we live.”
When the programme host noted that some reports had described the claims as exaggerated, Yusuf maintained his position.
“It is the same, it is the same Kwankwaso that has had to fly to Awka,” he said. “I say be careful. I have more Igbos in Kano living in peace more than northerners throughout the southeast.”
Yusuf also dismissed Obi’s economic proposals for the northern region, arguing that the former governor lacked sufficient understanding of the challenges facing the North.
“I’ve seen the world more than he’s seen. He’s done his governance, he’s a businessman. Every one of us, I know the north more than he does. He cannot come and tell me about the north,” he stated.
“In the north, he does not understand what ails us. He doesn’t, at all.”
The former NHIS boss identified insecurity as the region’s most pressing challenge, referencing a recent attack in his home area.
“Twenty-four killed in Jikamshi, where I’m from. Does he know anything? The biggest thing that ails us in the north is insecurity. What does he know about insecurity in the north?” Yusuf queried.
He further criticised Obi’s frequent references to foreign development models, saying such comparisons did not resonate with ordinary Nigerians in the north.
“I’ve seen him come and give you all those bogus numbers. In Bangladesh, this, in Malaysia, this means nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing to our people,” he said.
“Oh yeah, in Bangladesh, they do this, in Malaysia, we don’t care.”
Yusuf also referenced the political influence of former Kano State governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, suggesting that Obi’s outreach to the North depended heavily on alliances with established northern political figures.
“He will come to the north now and explain to us and that is why Kwankwaso is the vehicle to sell him to the north,” Yusuf added.
“We have his record to interrogate what he did to northerners when he was the governor.”
