Peter Obi, the Labour Party candidate for president in the 2023 election, stated that the alleged identity theft he recently experienced in the United Kingdom originated in Nigeria.
Obi added, however, that UK authorities were still investigating the matter.
On Sunday, while speaking as a guest on a Parallel Facts Media Twitter Space programme, he disclosed this information.
“Since then, I’ve been to the United Kingdom, and they’re also investigating, as they told me when I arrived that they were doing so,” Obi said.
“That’s all I can say at the moment. I am also very cautious. I’m managing it, and I am praying nothing goes wrong. But everything began here; that is all I can say. Something that originated in Nigeria.”
According to reports, Obi was detained and questioned by London immigration officials in April due to a case of identity theft.
Obi was reportedly detained for hours following the landing of his British Airways flight at Heathrow Airport.
According to one of his erstwhile aides, Professor Chinyere Okunna, Obi recounted the ordeal to her in private and expressed pain over the ordeal, which was intended to hound and chase him out of Nigeria.
Okunna stated, “Today, April 11th, 2023, I was beyond stunned to learn from His Excellency Mr. Peter what transpired when his British Airways flight landed at Heathrow Airport, London, in the wee hours of Friday, April 7th.
“He spoke with me during the official opening of the specialist hospital of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) Sisters, Nkpor. The ‘ear-splitting’ ovation that now accompanies him everywhere he goes announced his arrival at the event after he had flown in from London. As the “Most Outstanding Pillar of the Foundation/Hospital,” the Reverend Sisters had high hopes that he would attend; so did we (Members of the Governing Board of the IHM Sisters Healthcare System), despite our concern that he might not be able to due to his location outside Nigeria.
“I assume he told me all of this in confidence. Sincere contrition, Your Excellency, for ‘breaching’ this confidentiality; however, history is calling, and I cannot keep quiet.
“His ordeal began when he arrived at Heathrow Airport and joined the usual procession to pass through immigration.
He was detained and interrogated for a considerable amount of time before being given a detention notice and told to await further interrogation and investigation. This was extremely unusual for a gentleman who had resided in the United Kingdom for many years.
Knowing who he is, some well-intentioned Nigerians raised their voices in indignation and demanded to know why he was being treated in such a manner.
Okunna disclosed that, in response to what appeared to be opposition from some Nigerians, immigration officials disclosed that someone was impersonating Obi in the country.
“The immigration officer’s startling revelation was that Obi’s identity had been duplicated. Certainly, this revelation has set off alarm sirens.
“This is a very perilous development for those who are knowledgeable about such matters, as it implies that someone is impersonating Peter Obi.
“And that individual could implicate Obi in all sorts of dubious and even criminal activities and rope him into any number of offences; he could frame Obi for a criminal act.” The terrifying prospect of what could occur is inconceivable.”
However, Femi Fani-Kayode, the former Director, New Media Sub-committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council, stated that Obi could not be trusted until he clarified the circumstances surrounding his detention by British immigration officers at Heathrow Airport.
He stated that Obi must elucidate whether he violated British laws intentionally or unintentionally.
Fani Kayode stated, “Until Peter Obi explains what transpired at Heathrow Airport and why he was detained by British immigration officials over the Easter holiday, he cannot be trusted or taken seriously.”
“Peter Obi’s assertion that he never knowingly broke the law suggests that he did so ‘unknowingly’.”
