Chief Peter Obi, Governor of Anambra State 2006 - 2014

Peter Obi (born 19 July 1961) was governor of Anambra State in Nigeria[1] from 17 March 2006 to 2 November 2006, when he was impeached and from 9 February 2007 to 29 May 2007 after his impeachment was overturned. Although a fresh election was held on 29 April 2007, he was reappointed governor on 14 June 2007 after a court ruling that he should be allowed to complete a four-year term. He won a 6 February 2010 election for a second term as governor.

Peter Obi was born on 19 July 1961 at Onitsha. He attended Christ the King College, Onitsha where he completed his secondary school education. He was admitted to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1980, graduating with a B.A (Hons) in philosophy in 1984.

Going into business, he became Chairman of Next International Nigeria Ltd, then Chairman and Director of Guardian Express Mortgage Bank Ltd, Guardian Express Bank Plc, Future View Securities Ltd, Paymaster Nigeria Ltd, Chams Nigeria Ltd, Data Corp Ltd and Card Centre Ltd. He was the youngest Chairman of Fidelity Bank PLC. Peter Obi married Margaret Brownson Usen in 1992 after which they had their first child Gabriella Nwamaka Frances Obi, two years later they had their first son Gregory Peter Oseloka Obi.

Peter Obi stood in the Anambra State governorship election as candidate for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) party in 2003, but his rival, Chris Ngige of the People's Democratic Party, was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

After nearly three years of litigation, Ngige's victory was overturned by the Court of Appeal on 15 March 2006. Obi took office for on 17 March 2006. On 2 November 2006, he was impeached by the state house of assembly after seven months in office and replaced the next day by Virginia Etiaba, his deputy, making her the first ever female Governor in Nigeria's history. Obi successfully challenged his impeachment and was re-instated as the governor on 9 February 2007 by the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu. Etiaba handed power back to him after the court ruling.[5]

He once again left office on 29 May 2007 following the general elections, which Andy Uba won. Obi returned to the courts once more, this time contending that the four-year tenure he had won in the 2003 elections only started to run when he took office in March 2006. On 14 June 2007 the Supreme Court of Nigeria upheld Obi's contention and returned Obi to office. This brought to an abrupt end the tenure of Obi's successor, Andy Uba whose April 14, 2007 election the Supreme Court nullified on the grounds that Obi's four-year tenure should have remained undisturbed until March 2010.

On 7 February 2010, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Peter Obi the winner of the 6 February 2010 gubernatorial elections, where he defeated Professor Charles Soludo, former Governor, CBN. This election victory gave Governor Obi an additional four years as the governor of Anambra State. On the 17th of March 2014 Peter Obi served out his second term and handed over the governorship to Willie Obiano.