Reintroduce yourself, Obi lashes out at Tinubu over CSU certificate saga

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25, 2023 elections, Peter Obi has called on President Bola Tinubu to “reintroduce” himself to the world.

Obi made the call during a press briefing on Wednesday in his official reaction to the controversies surrounding the the Chicago State University certificate of President Tinubu, insisting that questions on the identity of President Tinubu have further worsened Nigeria’s battered reputation in the international community.

Ripples Nigeria reports that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar had subpoenaed the Chicago State University (CSU) to release Tinubu’s academic records for use in the Nigerian Supreme Court in appeal against the verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).

According to Atiku, there were discrepancies in the certificate Tinubu submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which should have rendered him ineligible to contest the election.

While addressing the press briefing on Wednesday, Obi, said the controversy over Tinubu’s academic records had made foreigners to start profiling Nigerians as “fraudsters, certificate forgers or identity thieves”.

According to him, Tinubu owes the nation the simple obligation of reintroducing himself to the world.

He said: “The entire Chicago University matter as well as Chief Bola Tinubu’s many other lingering identity question marks has further worsened Nigeria’s less-than-glorious image internationally.

READ ALSO:Labour Party says Peter Obi resisted pressure to protest against Tinubu’s victory

“Uninformed outsiders now see every Nigerian as a fraudster, certificate forger or identity thief. The controversy is unnecessary.

“The implicit global embarrassment could have been avoided. In my opinion, Bola Tinubu should have saved the nation and himself from this protracted embarrassment and undue anxiety.

“He should let the world know his name, his nationality, his place of birth, his parentage, the primary and secondary schools he attended with dates as well as the actual universities he attended and certificates obtained.

“He should indicate clearly where and when he did his national youth service. In addition, if at any time he had had a change of name, he should state so clearly. That in itself is no crime.

“It does not require an affidavit, prolonged court process, spokespersons, agents or surrogates. The task is only one which Bola Tinubu himself through a direct personal statement can perform.

“His present capacity as a leader of a nation of over 200 million Nigerians, his true identity is a matter of grave national and international interest.

“The people deserve to know with certainty the true identity of their leader and this overrides whatever right he may have to personal privacy.”

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