Z. Obed (died 30 January, 2020)^[1] was a prominent public figure in Nagaland. He was one of the first local Nagas to have cleared the UPSC exams and selected as an IAS officer. He served the government of Nagaland as an IAS officer in various capacities and eventually rose to the highest position in the bureaucracy as the Chief Secretary to the Government of Nagaland in 1980. After his retirement, he was called to contest the Assembly elections by his supporters in Kohima and so he waded in to the poltical arena and contested as an INC candidate from the Kohima Town constituency and was elected as an MLA in the 1993 Assembly elections. Due to his vast experience and stature as a public servant of integrity, Mr. Obed was appointed as the Minister of Urban Planning in Chief Minister S.C. Jamir's cabinet. In 2003, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Nagaland again as the Nagaland People's Front candidate in the constituency Kohima Town (ST) and was once more appointed as the PHE Minister in Chief Minister Niphiu Rio's cabinet.^[2]

In 2007, he led a rebellion inside the ruling coalition, seeking to remove Neiphiu Rio as Chief Minister.^[3] In September 2007, he resigned from NPF, after being suspended for two years from the party.^{[citation needed]}