Igbo group to Obi: It’s an insult to ask Tinubu to reintroduce himself

The Omaluegwuoku Progress Initiative (OPI), an Igbo socio-cultural group, says it is an insult to Nigeria for Peter Obi to ask President Bola Tinubu to reintroduce himself to Nigerians.

At a press briefing on Wednesday, Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the last elections, said Tinubu should reintroduce himself because the debate surrounding his academic records has worsened Nigeria’s image.

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

Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Ginika Tor, OPI’s global president, said it is not right for Obi to make such demands.

“I had already put up my speech and suddenly I realised that my own brother that I respect so much, Peter Obi, who is also the presidential candidate of Labour Party… he came up on Arise TV to say that our president, a man that is the number one man in this country should come out and explain his state,” Tor said.

“So by now a man who served 8 years as a governor, you don’t know his state? Should tell us his background educationally, is that right?

“It is an insult to Nigeria as a nation. For you to call out our president who was massively supported, elected, confirmed and validated as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to come and stand before who?

“To say he’s from this state, from this country, from this region, from this locality. Does he owe us that? What the president owes us now is to take us to our destination of choice.”

She also described Atiku Abubakar’s quest to unravel Tinubu’s academic records as a “fishing expedition”.

“They started by saying President Bola Tinubu did not attend CSU and when CSU confirmed repeatedly that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was their student and graduated with honours in 1979, they changed lanes and started accusing President Bola Tinubu of submitting a fake certificate to INEC in 2022,” Tor said.

The OPI president said Tinubu’s administration is laying a foundation for Nigeria’s prosperity.