Peter Obi, former Anambra Governor and presidential candidate of the Labour Party in 2023, has lauded internet fraudsters, popularly called Yahoo boys, as “creative and courageous geniuses” who, according to him, “need redirection and not condemnation.”

Mr Obi made this call as a guest speaker on Saturday at the Archbishop Patterson Auditorium, All Saints’ Cathedral, Onitsha, during a conference themed “Money Beyond Wealth.”

“I told the youths that some of our so-called Yahoo boys are geniuses who need redirection, not condemnation,” Mr Obi said in a statement rehashing his address at the conference, shared on X.

Lauding Yahoo boys as creative and courageous, Mr Obi said, “Their creativity and courage, if properly guided, can drive innovation and national development. Our challenge is to channel their energy from deception to productive enterprise.”

While charging leaders to lead by example, the former Anambra governor warned “that the reckless pursuit of money destroys both character and community.”

He added, “Leadership must lead by example, for a nation that rewards dishonesty cannot build integrity. I urged our youths to rediscover the dignity of labour and embrace hard work and innovation. Nations are built not by miracles but by men and women who think, work, and build.”

Mr Obi’s statement lauding Yahoo boys—criminals who defraud innocent victims—comes amid widespread concern over their menace at home and abroad.

In recent years, some Nigerians abroad have been jailed for internet and wire fraud as the international community beams its searchlight on the criminal activities of Nigerian Yahoo boys.

The UK and American authorities, in their travel advisories, have sternly warned their citizens about Nigerian internet fraudsters.

Ola Olukoyede, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had attributed Nigeria’s bad image abroad to the activities of young internet fraudsters, describing them as a national shame.

Speaking on the impact of youths’ involvement in internet fraud, the anti-graft czar said, “Today, if you travel abroad with your green passport, you stand in the queue among so many people, you will discover that by the time you present your green passport, the people will look at you with some reservation. That is if they don’t take you outside to carry out special scrutiny on you. That is the national shame some young Nigerians have caused for us.”