‘TRANSACTIONAL POLITICS’: YOUTHS PAID TO HARASS GOOD GOVERNANCE ADVOCATES – PETER OBI
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Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has expressed concern over the increasing normalization of transactional politics in Nigeria, warning that the practice poses a serious threat to the country’s democratic future.
Speaking during an engagement at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C., Obi described transactional politics as a growing trend where politicians allegedly pay young people to harass and discredit advocates of good governance—particularly on social media platforms.
In a video obtained by Vanguard, the Labour Party stalwart criticized what he termed the “betrayal” of Nigerian youths by the very leaders who should be shaping a better future for them.
“In the transactional politics of Nigeria, some people pay them to cause confusion,” Obi said. “Go to social media—those that are being paid ₦20,000, ₦40,000 monthly to abuse you are the same youths you’re fighting for, because I am over 60 and I have few years to go.”
Obi’s remarks underscore growing concerns among civic leaders and reform advocates about the weaponization of digital platforms for political manipulation, and the exploitation of vulnerable youth in the process.
He called for greater political awareness among Nigerian youths and urged them to resist being used as tools in divisive political schemes, adding that true national development can only occur when citizens demand accountability and integrity from their leaders.
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