Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate, has addressed several controversies involving himself, including his alleged detention in the United Kingdom and Lai Mohammed’s treason accusations.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, the former governor of Anambra state discussed a variety of issues involving his party and himself, including his recent alleged arrest in the United Kingdom on impersonation charges.
The presidential candidate assured that he was not arrested and that he was simply taken aside for a routine check to alert him to the forgery of his UK visa.
“I have never been arrested or detained, nor have I committed any crime in the United Kingdom. I was halted for a routine immigration check because it appeared that my identity had been duplicated. I have resided in the United Kingdom for over ten years and have never been questioned or arrested in connection with a crime. I was questioned for less than twenty minutes and treated with the utmost respect.”
Peter Obi made it abundantly clear that he did not possess dual citizenship, stating that he had even renounced his permanent residency in the United Kingdom and that his honorific citizenship in Dallas was merely a formal welcome to the state.
“My honorific citizenship in Dallas, Texas is worthless; it does not even allow me to enter the United States without a visa. I have never applied for citizenship of any other country, and I never will. I am a Nigerian who believes in Nigeria.”
According to him, it was “rascality” for the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, to accuse him of treason because of statements made by his running companion in the election, Yusuf Datti Baba Ahmed.
“For Lai Mohammed to accuse me of treason is the height of impudence. I was in Onitsha when he made this declaration in Washington, D.C. This is a waste of government funds, which should have been used to construct more classrooms.
“If you visit his village, I’m confident you’ll find many children who don’t even have desks to attend school. And instead of using that money for that purpose, he used it to travel to Washington and proclaim the treason of someone in Onitsha.”
He also dispelled rumours about the “Yes daddy” audio, which was allegedly a recording of a phone conversation between him and Bishop David Oyedepo in which they referred to the election as “religious warfare.” He accomplished this by stating, “I am not a religious or tribal bigot, but let them make of that what they will.”
The LP candidate concluded the interview by stating that he was in no rush to become the next president of Nigeria.
“I am not frantic to become president. I’m desperate to see Nigeria thrive.”
