Frivolous Attacks Ridicules Obi’s Traducers
Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), His Eminence Peter Obi, continues to absorb tantrums thrown by his traducers which expose his impeccable character and ridicules his opponents
By Udoka Ekeleme, Abuja
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has an intimidating political profile which rattles candidates of other political parties and their supporters, especially the All Progressives Congress (APC). Hence, his traducers are busy manufacturing outright lies, falsehood and half truth against his personality in order to diminish his political profile and reduce him to one who is not capable of managing public such as that of the presidency. He has been called several unprintable names by traducers even as the heaped damning and frivolous allegations against him in malicious moves to tarnish his image.
However, the former Anambra State Governor has on each occasion debunked the lies and vowed that if any of the allegations were found to be true, he would drop from the presidential race.
The lates of such malicious accusations has to do with Obi’s academic profile which has been a subject of controversy since 2023, when he contested the presidential election on the platform of the Labour Party (LP).
Political opponents and social media critics have claimed that the university degree certificate Obi parades is fake.
The allegation which has been proved to be unfounded is anchored on the argument that Mr Obi could not have been admitted to study Philosophy at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), without obtaining at least a credit in English Language and Mathematics in the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) examination.
Other claims have surfaced regarding discrepancies between the name he is publicly known by and the names appearing on his UNN degree and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificates.
The allegation resurfaced last June after Abayomi Arabambi, the national vice Chairman (South-West) of the Labour Party (LP) faction led by Lamidi Apapa, appeared recently on News Central Television, a social media television platform, where he displayed copies of Obi’s degree certificate alongside other academic records and alleged that they were not genuine.
Arabambi said, “You and I know that you cannot study Philosophy with a pass in English Language and Mathematics. See the things your brother used to enter university and you can Google it whether you can study Philosophy with three credits”.
The LP chieftain referred listeners to the UNN website, which he said showed that a prospective student must have five credits including English and Mathematics to be admitted for Philosophy.
Speaking further, Arabambi said, “I studied Engineering; English and Mathematics are compulsory. That means he entered that school with three credits out of five required for studying Philosophy”.
Some media outfits, upon Arabambi’s revelation, had contacted him to obtain copies of the academic credentials he referenced during the interview, which they got. Further investigation showed that the WAEC certificate referenced by the LP chief indicated that the bearer’s name is Obi Gregory Onwubuasi.
The certificate also shows that the candidate sat the General Certificate Examination (GCE) at Christ The King College, Onitsha, Anambra State in 1978.
According to the result details on the certificate, the candidate received Grade 8, equivalent to pass, in English Language and Mathematics. He scored Grade 7, also equivalent of a pass, in Government and Chemistry. He scored Grade 6, equivalent to a credit, in Biology and Geography. He also scored Grade 5, equivalent to a credit, in Literature-in-English and Religious Knowledge, and in Economics, he received Grade 3, equivalent of good.
In July 2026, an online medium had written to the UNN on the strength of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011, to confirm whether its records showed that Obi was admitted to study Philosophy with the results on the school certificate.
The letter also sought to know if, with those results, Obi met the minimum O’Level requirements for admission into the university’s Philosophy undergraduate programme at the time.
The medium had also sought to know whether there were alternative admission pathways, exemptions, remedial programmes or equivalent qualifications that could have enabled a candidate to gain admission despite not having at least a credit in English Language and Mathematics.
Furthermore, the letter requested the UNN to confirm if Obi completed his undergraduate studies and graduated, and to authenticate the degree certificate credited to him.
The WAEC certificate in question and a copy of the UNN degree certificate issued to Obi were attached to the letter for ease of reference.
Responding to the inquiry, the Registrar’s office of the UNN confirmed that Obi’s admission to study Philosophy and authenticated his degree certificate. In the UNN response dated August 26, 2026 and signed by Eseme Obiora, a Senior Deputy Registrar, the UNN confirmed that Obi was duly admitted to study Philosophy in 1980.
According to UNN, “Mr. Gregory Peter Onwubuasi Obi was duly admitted by the University Authority to study Philosophy in the Faculty of the Social Science on September 03, 1980, with registration number 80/26333 and reference number in his admission letter was JAMB/ICMS/80 and Serial No. 07928, signed by one M. Shehu for JAMB Registrar (Annexure B Letter dated 3rd September, 1980). Admission,” the letter read.
While authenticating the degree copy of Obi’s certificate, as duly issued to Mr Obi upon completion of his undergraduate programme, the university wrote that “the Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy with Second Class Honours Lower Division dated 15th December, 1984 emanated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and was awarded to him by the University Senate with the Certificate No D000198.”
On the question of whether Obi’s O’Level qualifications qualified him for admission at the time, UNN answered in the affirmative.
The university confirmed that Obi met the O’Level requirements, adding that there were no alternative admission pathways, exemptions, remedial programmes or equivalent qualifications involved in his admission.
“The O’Level Certificate Mr. Gregory Peter Onwubuasi Obi presented fulfilled and/or met the requirement prescribed by the University Entrance Board during the time and was therefore admitted to study Philosophy.
“There were no alternative admission pathways, exemptions, remedial programmes or equivalent qualification that Mr. Gregory Peter Onwubuasi Obi took before he was admitted to study Philosophy by the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He was qualified ab initio,” it said.
The university further confirmed that Obi, whose full name was given as Gregory Peter Onwubuasi Obi, was admitted to study Philosophy in the Faculty of Social Sciences on 3 September 1980.
Confirming that Mr Obi met the O’Level requirements for admission, the letter said the presidential candidate combined two WAEC results – the publicised one from the June 1978 examinations and the less known one from the November/December 1978.
It said, “Yes, Mr. Gregory Peter Onwubuasi Obi was admitted into the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, to study Philosophy with his West African Examination Council (WAEC) dated June 1978 Appendix C” result, the WAEC Number 04104138 and another Nov/Dec GCE 1978 result combined that qualified him to be admitted to study Philosophy.”
Another malicious lie currently trending against Obi is the one from Anambra State Government which said that the administration of former Governor left unpaid loans from eight different external borrowings as of the time he left office on March 17, 2014. The confirmed lie added that as of June 30, 2026, the total balance of such loans left by Obi at the official exchange rate stood at N127.4 billion.
But Obi has challenged the earlier claims of “unpaid loans” by the Anambra State Government on his record while in office, insisting he owed no one in pensions, salaries or contract jobs done.
He also challenged his detractors to the effect that if there were proofs to their allegations, he would stop campaigning for election.
The NDC presidential candidate also rejected claims by the Anambra State Government that his administration left behind inherited debts, including a N2bn ecological loan, contractor liabilities and unpaid salaries, gratuities and pensions.
Obi, in a statement on X on Tuesday, September 15, described the claims as “completely false,” saying his administration had cleared more than N35bn in historical gratuities and arrears and handed over the state without outstanding salary, pension or gratuity obligations.
He said, “We systematically liquidated historical gratuities and arrears dating back several years, amounting to over N35bn.
“At the point of handover, the state owed nothing in salaries, gratuities, or pensions, nor did we owe anything to any contractor for projects duly executed and certified,” he added.
Obi also specifically disputed the claim concerning the N2bn ecological fund, explaining that the money was released shortly before he left office for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.
According to Obi, the money was left untouched in a First Bank account in UNIZIK, Awka Branch.
He also vowed to quit the 2027 presidential race if the state government showed evidence that he left debts or owed any contractor.
