Bianca Ojukwu narrates encounter with ‘stingy’ Peter Obi

On Wednesday, the fiery Catholic priest and Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry Enugu, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, described Obi as a ‘stingy man’ with heated reactions greeting his comments by Obi’s supporters

In a post on the matriarch’s Facebook page titled: “NO APOLOGIES, PLEASE. On Peter Obi’s supposed ‘Stinginess’…”, she recalled when Obi, then Anambra Governor visited Texas and refused to pay so much for a designer suit worth $3,985, instead opted for a $220 suit.

Though, she revealed Peter Obi eventually gave her the balance of what the designer’s suit would have gulped to use in helping those in need through her Charity foundation

She began: “Sometime in 2009, ‘Mr’(as he preferred to be addressed) Peter Obi, Governor Of Anambra State at the time, visited Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and myself at Dallas, Texas. He came to deliver a get well message from Dr Goodluck Jonathan and was billed to attend a black tie event at the Dallas Marriott.

“Curiously, Obi flew into Dallas airport with one small carry-on luggage which he insisted on wheeling around himself, and on getting to our residence requested to freshen up. What will you be wearing to the event tonight?’, we inquired. It was at that point that it struck him that he could not show up in his casuals at such a ceremony.

“I insisted on taking him to the luxury men’s emporium at Neiman Marcus to buy a smart black suit. When we got there, he was busy doing the Dollar to Naira currency conversions. The suit that was a perfect match for him was a dapper Tom Ford suit with a price tag of 3,985 dollars plus tax. He did the calculations and told me ‘Do you know how many students this amount of money can train in Nigeria? I reminded him that he was the governor as well as the special guest, and for the caliber of guest expected at that evening’s occasion, including the mayor, senators and captains of conglomerates amongst many others, he needed to be dressed in top form.

Bianca continued: “To cut the story short, he refused to pay what he termed ’that outrageous price’ for the Tom Ford suit and that was how we ended up at Steinmart where he agreed to pay a more acceptable price of 220 dollars, tax inclusive, for a basic men’s suit which he was happy to wear to that evening’s event.
“What struck me, was that as we were on the way to the airport to see him off for his return flight back to Nigeria, he reached for his pocket where he brought out an envelope of crisp hundred dollar bills. The amount in the envelope was 3,800 dollars.

“He said ‘Anyanwu, this is the balance of the money I would have paid for the ‘Ford’ suit. If the label on the suit was ‘Peter Obi’, I am wondering if anybody in America will pay that amount for it. I have deducted the amount we paid for that suit we eventually bought. Please use this balance for your Charity foundation to help those in actual need. I trust you will do so’. We all laughed heartily. Vintage Peter Obi!”