Controversy trails Peter Obi’s names on academic certificates

The names on the academic certificates of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, have sparked controversy within the opposition party.

On Wednesday, Oseloka Obaze, a chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), posted on his X  account, some of the academic certificates of the former Anambra governor.

Obaze posted Obi’s West Africa Examination Council (WAEC), University of Nigeria (UNN) and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificates.

He claimed that the LP candidate had all his credentials verified.

“As Americans say; ‘Trust But Verify.’ Here are @peterobi‘s WASC, BA &NYSC certificates all verified: Nothing Bogus; Nothing Forged; & Nothing Ambigous. The fundamentals of leadership is intergrity & transparency. Comparably, verified documents from CSU Raised More Questions!,” he wrote.

However, the copy of the WAEC certificate posted by the LP chieftain bears “Obi Gregory Onwubuasi”, while the UNN certificate carries “Gregory Peter Onwubuasi Obi”, and the NYSC certificate shows “Obi, Gregory Peter Onwubuasi”.

The omission of “Peter” from the WAEC certificate obtained in June 1979, has stirred conversation on X.

The development is coming amid the controversy trailing the academic records of President Bola Tinubu.

On Wednesday, Obi addressed a world press conference in Abuja, where he asked President Bola Tinubu to “reintroduce” himself to Nigerians.

The LP presidential candidate said the controversy over Tinubu’s academic records has made foreigners to start profiling Nigerians as “fraudsters, certificate forgers or identity thieves”. 

LP FACTIONS DISAGREE 

Abayomi Arabambi, the spokesperson of the Lamidi Apapa-led faction of the LP, alleged that Obi had different names on his certificates issued by UNN and NYSC.

Speaking in an interview with AIT, Arabambi claimed that the party observed the discrepancies in Obi’s certificates during the screening of presidential hopefuls.

“I was part of the people who did the screening for him. In the form EC9 we gave him, he wrote that he attended the University of Nigeria Nsukka and he wrote that he finished his youth service,” he said.

“But unfortunately, in the final submission of the form, he only submitted his school certificate.

“So, something is fishy and I want to say the name the school sent for mobilisation was not what was written on his NYSC certificate and he knows that.”

Reacting to Arabambi’s claim, Obiora Ifoh, LP’s national publicity secretary, told TheCable that the issues raised on Obi’s certificates are “false”.

Ifoh said the academic credentials of the former Anambra governor have been made public and can be verified.

“It is absolutely false. There are no discrepancies in the documents presented by our candidate,” he said.

“His primary and secondary schools alongside university certificates are all out there for verification.”