Peter Obi Didn’t Build Schools And Hospitals When He Was Governor of Anambra State
There has been a claim made by the governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu that the former governor of Anambra state and presidential flag bearer of the Labour Party during the 2023 general elections in Nigeria, Mr. Peter Obi did not build schools and hospitals when he was the Governor of Anambra state.
This comes in response to the speech made by Obi when he was a guest lecturer at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA where he said that Nigeria has more poor people than China, Indonesia and Vietnam combined.
The claim captioned “Sanwo-Olu Slams Peter Obi Over U.S. University Comments: ‘Poverty Worsened, No School Or Hospital Built In Your 8 Years As Anambra Governor' | Sahara Reporters https://bit.ly/44vSUeL” was published on April 28, 2025.
In the comment section, @DevonAjala wrote “How can you be a governor for 8 years and not build one single school and hospital? Those are the most basic amenities.” @CollinsZagaa said “Peter Obi built Anambra state university Igbariam campus from zero level with hostels included. Anambra took first in Sustainable development goals in education. This is standard indicators and indexes the world use to measure progress.” As of the time this report was published, the post had over 267,000 views, and over 2,000 replies, retweets and quotes, and likes.
VERIFICATION
Peter Obi was the presidential flag bearer of the Labour Party, LP, in the 2023 general elections held in Nigeria. Prior to that, he was the executive governor of Anambra state from June 14, 2007 to March 17, 2014.
Did Obi Build Schools When He Was Governor of Anambra State?
Peter Obi has publicly acknowledged that he did not construct new schools during his time as Governor. Instead, he focused on rehabilitating and upgrading existing educational infrastructure. Under his administration, Anambra State’s educational system saw significant improvements, with the state rising from 26th position to the 1st position in the performance ranking of results of NECO and WAEC examinations. His other initiatives in the education sector included the distribution of over 22,500 laptops and 1,400 printers to secondary schools, provision of boreholes, and the establishment of Microsoft Academies in more than 500 schools across Anambra state.
Did Obi Build Hospitals When He Was Governor of Anambra State?
In contrast to Sanwo-Olu’s claim, Obi’s administration did undertake the construction of new healthcare facilities in Anambra. Notably, the Amaku General Hospital in Awka was transformed into a teaching hospital and College of Medicine, with over 20 new structures built, including clinics, laboratories, and wards. Additionally, reports showed that new general hospitals were established in Anaku and Umueri and several existing hospitals were renovated and accredited.
CONCLUSION
The claim made by Lagos state governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo Olu, that Peter Obi did not build schools and hospitals during his eight year reign as governor of Anambra state is MISLEADING as Obi’s administration focused on revitalizing existing educational institutions, which led to significant improvements in the state's educational standard. In the healthcare sector, he constructed new hospitals and upgraded existing ones during his administration.
