During his recent three-day visit to the United States, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, highlighted notable differences between political leadership styles in Nigeria and the U.S.

In a post on X, Obi recounted travelling with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens from Atlanta to Washington, noting that despite Atlanta's sizable annual budget of roughly $3 billion—more than Nigeria’s entire national budget—Dickens maintained a surprisingly humble profile.

He travelled like any ordinary passenger, with no special privileges such as aides, escorts, or sirens, illustrating a contrast to Nigerian leaders' displays of power and grandeur, even when managing smaller budgets.

“In Nigeria, governors, most of whom oversee budgets smaller than Atlanta’s—and even local government chairmen, whose allocations are less than 1% of Atlanta’s, would have constituted a public nuisance with sirens, protocol officers, endless announcements, large entourages, and posters everywhere,” Obi stated.

He argued that Nigerian leaders must change their public conduct and focus more on service delivery, citing Dickens’ commitments to crime reduction, youth opportunities, and a minimum wage of $15 per hour for council workers.