By Philip Elueme

A holistic philosophical/historical, thematic reappraisal of Senator Peter Onyelukachukwu Nwaoboshi’s stewardship on earth July, 29, 1957 – 19th Dec, 2025.

An intriguing, highly instructive grass to grace story of a “political enigma” – apologies to late Obi Sen Nosike Ikpo

How did a humble farmer’s child with a humble trader mother, who was studiously sweeping the St Augustine Catholic Church premises as a pupil of Sacred Heart Primary school Igbuzo in 1968, when Nigerian forces shelled Igbuzo indiscriminately, and was lucky to be alive escaping death by a whisker, running with other frightened towns folks helter skelter into the forest for safety, and for two agonizing days could not locate his family members, rise up to exceptionally enviable political leadership positions?

Defying the huge odds that confronted his pathway for most of his life from infancy to adulthood.

How did a young Peter, a former ‘mass server’ at St Augustine Catholic Church, a Boys Scout member, a pupil who passed the common entrance examination with flying colours into the seminary in 1970 with the likes of Catholic Bishop Elue, Rev Fathers Ojei and Nwadei, etc, but was ‘restrained’ from enrolling as a seminarian by his father, a core traditionalist, end up as a two term Senator amongst other political leadership positions?

How did a young Peter born to late Obi Francis Agetue Nwaoboshi and Obi ‘Okpoho’ Agnes Nwaoboshi on the 29th  of July 1957, of Isieke Umuekea quarters of Igbuzo in Oshimili North LGA of Delta State, end up as the first and only ‘punctuality prefect’ of St Thomas’s Teachers College Igbuzo where he obtained his grade 2 teachers certificate in 1975, and even his GCE O’ levels papers earlier in class four as a private candidate?

How did a young Peter who got admitted under Dr Rev Anthony Gbuji endear himself to the then Irish school’s principal Rev Father Harry Jones who spent 35 years in Nigeria – so much that he recognized his ‘innate’ leadership qualities and gave him the platform and ‘latitude’ to become the very effective ‘Punctuality Prefect’ cum timekeeper who regulated the school activities? A task his class mates averred that he performed with discipline, gusto, panache and efficiency by adopting the popular mantra innovatively at that tender age: “Punctuality is the soul of business.The end of one activity is the beginning of another” Feats he demonstrated similarly in his Adult life!

How did a young primary school grade 2 teacher who taught at Mouka Primary School, Obiaruku, and Ikelike Primary School, Ogwashi Uku,  between 1975 & 1977 utilize his time judiciously & remained focused to obtain the GCE A’ level as a private candidate at first sitting in 1977 with three papers, so much that he gained admission into two universities? However, as he asserted he could not proceed because there was nobody to train him and he couldn’t gather the required funds as he was ‘refunding’ the funds expended on his teacher’s training education. An unfortunate situation that frustrated him agonizingly, leaving him with very meagre funds to take care of his needs. Yet, he prioritized the little funds available to him then to register for the GCE A’ level examination as well as buying the textbooks needed!

How did a young teacher’s grade 2/GCE A’ levels holder in three papers display so much oratorical brilliance in a Youth debate competition organized in 1977 at the Igbuzo town hall, so much that the big elites of that era in attendance at the high table – Prof Chike Onwuachi, Obi Sen Nosike Ikpo, Chief Hon Ikolodu, etc – were mesmerized and carried away with young Peter’s intellectual sagacity and commended him as the best debater of the day, with hand shakes and kind words, with Sen Nosike Ikpo ‘head hunting’ him as a ‘bourgeoning’ youth political leader of note by inviting him to his house for serious deliberations? Young Peter’s uncommon intellectual acumen even in the face of ‘excruciating’ poverty  was his selling point.

How did young Peter from a very humble  home, with a secure government job as a teacher, accept the offer from Sen Nosike Ikpo and resign his teaching appointment to join partisan politics? He became the first staff [Administrative  officer] of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) at the Bendel State headquarters, Benin city, where he acquired first hand the skills, rudimentary knowledge, adroitness, and intellectual capital proficiency of a smart and strategic partisan political actor from the many political leaders then available, including his principal, his many mentors like the veritable Sen Roland Owie who considers young Peter as their highly gifted and efficient  ‘roving ambassador’ of the then Bendel State UPN’s Caucus of the second republic era.

How did young Peter  now as a youth of about 20 years in 1977, following for instance the research works of scholars like Bontis, Stewart, and others of the intellectual capital persuasion school of thought, who highlighted the importance of human capital as the  pre-eminent antecedent for the intellectual wealth of nations,  jettison his teaching job for the uncertain terrain of partisan politics and eventually made his mark managing uncertainty; as a ‘gargantuan’ emerging political leader who sort of carried out, so to say ‘schumpeterian’ entrepreneurial creative destruction of his teachers job to go into ‘unchartered’/ uncertain waters of partisan politics? What a unique historical character!

No doubt, young Peter’s early exposure as a visionary to the intricacies of partisan political aggregation under the mentorship of experienced politicians, coupled with the sound educational qualifications he garnered first as one of the best graduating students of history in 1985 from the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, where he won many departmental prizes and was retained as a graduate assistant, but left this teaching appointment and proceeded to the University of Benin graduating in 1989 with an LL.B degree and a B.L law degree from the law school in 1990, and much later obtaining an LL.M postgraduate Masters degree in law from Delta State University, prepared him solidly for public service.

Our young Barr Peter has many good mentors. One of these mentors, Prof Austin Uwandulu, a technocratic mentee of Statesman Alhaji Shehu Musa former SGF under President Shehu Shagari, secured an appointment for him as the Makama Nupe’s SA, and short lived Company Secretary in the now defunct Meridien Equity Bank. This exposure and the attendant foreign trip/s in the course of his assignments added value to his resume, tapping hugely from the technocratic experience of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the veritable icon and mathematician Alhaji Shehu Musa, now of blessed memory!

Young Peter participated actively as an actor in all the partisan political democratic processes from the second republic where he functioned as Prof Ambrose Alli’s Political Secretary; to the Babangida transition era where he was a stalwart of the National Republican Convention (NRC) as the party’s Chairman for the defunct Oshimili LGA; to the Abacha  era where he functioned as the Deputy State Chairman for the DPN, and remarkably during the Abdulsalami Abubakar democratic transition era from 1998 where Barrister Nwaoboshi’s political career blossomed with his election into the position of the pioneer State Secretary of PDP Delta state, with his modest Umuezei law chambers, Asaba, converted to PDP’s State Secretariat from where the Government of Chief James Ibori of Delta State was formed in 1999. Audacious!

We can now begin to appreciate empirically that Barr Peter Nwaoboshi’s outstanding pedigree and skills exhibited in his politics, and leadership roles, particularly as State Secretary of PDP Delta state, and much later as her two term State Chairman, as the indomitable Political Adviser to Gov James Ibori, as Commissioner for Agriculture, as Commissioner for Special Duties – Abuja, as a grade ‘A’ Federal Board Chairman of the Raw Materials Research Council of Nigeria, as a member of the prestigious Nigeria Export Import Bank (NEXIM) board, etc, was not a fluke or luck that emerged from the blues. The uncommon achievements in these important leadership positions, came through the dint of hard work of a calculating visionary ‘risk bearer’, and from the privileged,  elaborate mentorship he got from the best political leaders cum technocratic leaders of our generation – no wonder Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo the former civilian Governor of Enugu State and later Pioneer National Secretary and National Chairman of PDP described Barr Peter Nwaoboshi as “an uncommon superlatively gifted and very impactful Politician”, especially  on account of his role defending the PDP Delta State structure in 1998/99 against the older political elites from Delta State’s political group of “nouveau riche” led by the late civilian Governor of Delta state State Chief Felix Ibru. A testament to their winning the local Government elections in Delta State in 1998, where the Ibori, James Manager and Peter Nwaoboshi, etc, young but dynamic leadership led the PDP to win 18 LGA’s comfortably. What an incredible feat!

Barr Peter was not referred to as the “Oracle turned miracle” by the Delta State PDP political class for nothing. In part, from 2011 to 2012 when the Delta State PDP executive committee which he led was facing the rampaging ‘power play’ onslaught of federal forces bent on dissolving it, he as a smart and prepared lawyer took the matter to a Maitama High Court in Abuja and defeated the opposing federal group to the bewilderment of the powers that be, and to the adulation of the Delta larger PDP family. Resplendent!

We can now appreciate the outstanding administrative ingenuity exhibited by Barr Peter as the Delta State Chairman of the PDP, orchestrating a winning mentality in the Party.  He  institutionalized  one of the best ‘remuneration packages’ for his State/ Senatorial/ LGA executive committee members, providing them with official cars. The LGA Chairmen and executives were further provided with additional 18 seater buses for each LGA. He equally facilitated the construction of A State of the Art secretariat for Delta state PDP – arguably one of the best State Party Headquarters nationwide.

Albeit, the highest point or crescendo of Sen Peter Nwaoboshi’s political acumen as a principled politician of the ‘Awoist’ brand of politics of note who stood for the larger interest of Delta State was when he fought for harmony and unity of all the component parts of the State with other Delta political leaders, by orchestrating the Equity political mantra against the then political order of Delta State.

From about 2006 he led the fight to ensure the rotation of the Governorship amongst the three (3) senatorial districts, against the continuation of another Delta central Senatorial person as the Governor of Delta State. In articulating this novel Equity mantra, Barr Peter led from the front line agitating that the next Governor to be elected come 2007 must come from either the South or North Senatorial districts.
Indeed a principled Barr Peter resigned his appointment from the cabinet of Gov James Ibori in a very heated controversial situation amidst threats and went into the trenches full blast adopting the gubernatorial candidate of Chief Obielum from Delta North as his DG… Fortuitously the Equity battle produced a Delta south Itsekiri born Governor in Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, all thanks to the role played by Barr Peter in conjunction with other leaders. Impressive!

Again as State Chairman of PDP when the second term tenure of Dr Uduaghan was winding down, Barr Peter stood his ground as a champion of power shift to Delta North when he, in consultation with other Delta North leaders, founded the Anioma Congress pressure group with him moving the motion for its formation, as seconded by Barr Adaora Giwa-Amu at Grand hotel, Asaba. The fact that Anioma prominent traditional rulers, political leaders, leaders of thought, women, youths and town unions even in the diaspora complied behaviourally with this Anioma Agenda mass movement battle is a strong pointer to the leadership ingenuity of the Oracle of politics. Additionally Sen Peter collaborated with civil war veteran and President of Izu Anioma, Brig General Godwin Alabi Isama to project and protect Anioma political brand image and right/ capability to produce in 2015, Delta state Governor of Anioma extraction in a classic Vanguard newspaper advertorial of Jan 29, 2014, signed by our General on behalf of Anioma Nation, as single handedly funded by our Oracle of politics.

Fundamentally, It was in his Asaba house on the eve of the strategic Delta State PDP gubernatorial primaries on 14th of November, 2014 that Delta North PDP leaders met and overwhelmingly adopted the ‘candidature’ of Dr Sen Ifeanyi Okowa to be the Anioma flag bearer. He went on to defeat Sir David Edevbie from Delta Central, to the joy and happiness of Ndi Anioma Nation at home and the diaspora.
Based on these progressive patriotic activism of Barr Peter, he later emerged as the Delta North Senatorial candidate of PDP, winning the 2015 elections with an unprecedented voter strength; securing about 70 percent of the total Delta North Senatorial votes and an amazing 80+ percent of votes in his 2019 senate reelection. It is noteworthy also that in the judicial contests that challenged his electoral successes, he won convincingly at both the Appeal and supreme court.

The Midas touch of a prepared political juggernaut was again demonstrated against all odds when he joined forces with the Dr Bukola Saraki group to defeat the then APC powers that be candidate for the Senate Presidency, Sen Ahmed Lawan, to the consternation of the APC national leadership. Curiously Sen Peter in 2019 after the Dr Saraki Senate Presidency era was instrumental in bringing most of the influential PDP Senate caucus members of that era to elect Senator Ahmad Lawan in 2019. For these feats, Sen Peter’s mentor Obi Sen Nosike Ikpo exclaimed: “Peter is a very smart and strategic politician”. Any wonder I also called him an “authority in politics.”

In view of his spirited strategic role even as a minority PDP Senator in producing the Senate President Dr Olushola Saraki and other Senate leaders, Sen Peter Nwaoboshi was assigned the crucial position of the Senate Committee Chairmanship of Niger Delta Affairs Committee (with NDDC as a commission under it). A position he utilized dexterously for near eight years to orchestrate unprecedented human and infrastructural dividends of democracy to his beloved Anioma folks, including ensuring that the Ndokwa/Ukwuani oil producing bloc was included as beneficiaries of the Amnesty programme for the first time, to the joy and celebration of Ndokwa Nation youths and elders alike. Sen Peter equally utilized his senate stewardship to attract massive roads in the nooks and crannies of Delta north, empowering Anioma entrepreneurs and political leaders alike; carrying out massive schools renovations; distribution of transformers; installation of street lights; distribution of plastic chairs and tables to many schools; building of skill acquisition centres at Kwale and Igbuzo; carrying out extensive training programmes in human capital empowerment for Anioma youths on regular basis; facilitating the gainful employment of dozens of Anioma youths in NDDC and other organisations; etc.

Our Oracle of politics utilized his membership of the following Senate committees to orchestrate good governance by carrying out oversight legislative functions: Petroleum Resources [ Up Stream ]; Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs; Local content; Science and Technology; Privatisation; Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions; Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, etc…

One remarkable fact that stands Sen Peter Nwaoboshi’s impressive Senate stewardship out despite the criticisms of some of his detractors, was that he achieved so much even in the face of the EFCC instigated court case and  judicial onslaughts heinously perpetuated against him as events later revealed. His NDDC sponsored amendment bill that President Buhari accented to even as a minority PDP Senator long before he switched over to the APC demonstrated Sen Peter Nwaoboshi’s strong parliamentary acumen as a law maker par excellence. Ditto his Federal University of Agriculture and Technology [Fuata] sponsored bill approved by Senate and concurred by the Federal House of Representatives, awaiting Mr President’s assent before his unfortunate Appeal Court travails truncated the final assent. Oh gosh!

While he won most of these cases in court, he lost some on very controversial circumstances like the 2022 Appeal court judgement that sent him to unmerited seven years imprisonment that greatly disrupted his laudable programmes for Delta Northerners, before the Supreme Court Locus Classicus judgement of 07-07-23 restored Sen Peter Nwaoboshi’s innocence from all the criminal charges, denouncing both the EFCC and the Appeal Court judgement. A verbatim extract of the landmark lead judgement is reproduced hereunder:

” The facts of this case as established by the evidence of the prosecution do not disclose any basis for the initiation of the criminal case against the appellant, [Sen Peter Nwaoboshi], 2nd and 3rd respondents.
It is of grave concern for the safety of persons in Nigeria that Efcc with a large number of very senior lawyers in its legal department, supported with senior advocates as external lawyers, subjected the appellant, 2nd and 3rd respondents to the criminal process of arrest, detention, prosecution and trial on the basis of facts that glaringly show that there was no basis for the initiation of such criminal processes against them.

Case such as this one creates reasonable belief that the criminal process was initiated against the appellant and two others with malice aforethought, spite and extreme Ill-will and that therefore the entire process is malicious.

What is even more disturbing, scandalous and fearful is that the court of Appeal did not see this glaring lack of basis for the criminal process against them and even convicted them for an offence they were not charged with and were not charged for.

At the university of Benin law department from 1986-89 a young brilliant history graduate, Peter was fortunate to be taught by a young, dynamic and charismatic brilliant London school of Economics and political science [LSE] PhD in law scholar’s scholar, Dr. Epiphany Azinge, as he was then known whose influence, counsel and guidance was positively impactful to Sen Peter Nwaoboshi chequered political career particularly during his stewardship at the Senate were our now erudite Prof of law participated closely and actively in ‘crafting’ cum ‘drafting’ most of his successful bills like the NDDC amendment bill, including also offering, like a true friend and brother, ‘pro bono’ legal counsels during the period of the most difficult judicial challenges that Sen Peter faced.

HRM Asagba Asaba was his pillar of support, counselling him both morally and psychologically pursuant to the successful 07-07-2023 Supreme court judgement that freed Sen Peter from the Appeal court wrongful judgement as the Supreme court lead judgement impliedly posited.

This wrongful, awful, regretful Appeal Court conviction, hence prison term, to the man who in line with the recommendations of Anioma corporate institutions and scholars alike [see late Prof Kuniram Osia’s book [2012] on ‘Anioma Identity and development’ ] cum the leaders of thought [see the 2003 Izu Anioma committee constitutional review report chaired by economist, Chief Philip Asiodu/ Sir Fortune Ebie and 27 prominent Anioma sons…] established arguably one of the biggest indigenously run plastic and electrical company in Anioma soil giving employment to many Anioma youths as well as transferring needful technological skills, etc, loosely stated; took a toll on Sen Peter Nwaoboshi’s health and certainly contributed to his ultimate death, even as he was ‘ambushed’ by perpetrators of politics of ‘ruthless’ ‘aggression’ with other legal court ‘persecution’, largely politically motivated, aggressively and cunningly unleashed on him, psychologically complicating his health challenges until his tragic death.

Senator Nwaoboshi’s love as a child participating actively in church activities as a sweeper and mass server led him to do the following for his home parish St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, Igbuzo

1. He built the first ‘Marian grotto’ under Rev. Father Emeka Obiezu
2. He interlocked the church compound under Rev. Father Jude Ossai (not the Parish house)
3. He built a convent for ‘DMMM’ sisters at Umuodafe, Igbuzo under Rev. Father Jude Ossai.
4. He built a new duplex for the ‘priory’ in the church under Rev. Father Stanley Asiegbu and furnished it under Rev. Father Stephen Onyiah, the present parish priest.
   His last dream for the Catholic church was to single -handedly build a church from foundation to finish with the newly created church of Presentation at bye- pass in Igbuzo in mind, a dream that was never fulfilled even though he already earmarked how and where the money would come from his numerous businesses.
   These philanthropic gestures he achieved with his personal income and not from governmental funding.
   Senator is a member of some professional bodies: Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUJ; Historical Society of Nigeria, MHSN; Nigeria Bar Association, NBA. He holds the traditional title of Oshimili of Akwukwuigbo; Aguajiejemba of Igbuzo; Ide of Okpanam; and Ochiagha of Obiaruku. He is a proud member of the Igbuzo highly revered warriors Guild – Ndi Ogbu ‘Chakalicha’ – reputed to have been the backbone of the historic Ekumeku anti colonial battles of the silent ones veterans. Sen is a lover of folktales being a traditionalist at home with the customs and traditions of his Igbuzo community. He has been honored twice by the Igbuzo Community Development Union, ICDU, world wide, first under late Prof Tony Arinze, and again under Dr Austin Izagbo, a pointer to his legendary status.
   Sen Peter Nwaoboshi is survived by his wife, a medical consultant, Dr. Judith Nwaoboshi, with many lovely children, brothers, sisters, cousins, etc. May His Gentle Soul Rest In Peace, Amen.

*Elueme can be reached via: [email protected]