Weeks After Peter Obi Finally Speaks On UK Immigration Detention
Weeks After Peter Obi Finally Speaks On UK Immigration Detention
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, in what appears to be a reaction to his recent questioning by immigration officers in London, United Kingdom, has stated that he will not knowingly break any law.
Obi, while speaking in Asaba, Delta State on Tuesday, noted that he had always lived his life in the most law-abiding manner possible but “as humans, we make mistakes.”
He, however, added that he “will never knowingly break any law”.
This comes about two weeks after Ibom Focus reported that Obi’s former aide, Chinyere Stella Okunna, revealed how the former Anambra governor was recently delayed and questioned for hours over a case of “duplicate identity” by some immigration officials in London.
Okunna, who worked with Obi as commissioner for information, commissioner for economic planning and coordinating commissioner for development partners, had said Obi who lived honourably in the UK narrated the ordeal to her in private and expressed pain about the ordeal, and others, which was allegedly meant to hound and chase him out of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Daniel Bwala, spokesman for the Presidential Campaign Organisation of Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) later claimed in a post on his Twitter handle that the British Government apologised to Obi over the incident.
The Labour Party (LP) presidential campaign council later debunked the rumour that the British government or any of its agencies apologised to Obi, over his detention and harassment at Heathrow Airport by some British immigration officers on April 7.
The party’s campaign spokesman, Diran Onifade, in a statement, said, “He was questioned for a long time and it was very strange for a man who lived for over a decade in that country.
“Since Obi’s face was already an international frame, especially for Nigerians, Africans home, and in Diaspora who are likely to be Obidients, the people quickly raised their voices wondering why he was being delayed.”
According to Onifade, the detention and questioning of Obi for a duplication offence suggests that someone must have been impersonating him in London.
Onifade said since the “impersonator is still at large, the scenario is unimaginable as Obi could be implicated in a series of forbidden acts and even be framed in a manner that could be a huge embarrassment to him, his family, his party, the Obidient Movement, and indeed Nigeria, where he currently and indisputably remains the conscience of the people.”
He pointed out that the impersonator could commit all kinds of weighty crimes and other dubious acts and it would be recorded in Obi’s name.
The LP presidential candidate, meanwhile on Tuesday encouraged Nigerians to remain calm and steadfast in their journey to reclaim what he described as their stolen mandate, noting that he would never give up on the journey until victory was achieved.
Obi during the National Executive Council Meeting of the Labour Party explained that he never expected the journey to achieving a new Nigeria to be an easy one.
“If they come at us through land, air and sea, we will respond to them through land, air and sea, but we will remain law abiding and will never give up on the nation.
“We are on the right path, and we will remain committed to the course,” Obi said.
“The millions of Nigerians who voted for me did not just cast their votes, but they invested their hope in me. They deserve justice. So we must stay the course. And beyond regaining our mandate, I am committed to lifting people out of poverty. I remain committed to transforming Nigeria, starting from the North to every part of the nation,” Obi stated.
He further revealed that there may be more mud slinging on him from those who are against the emergence of the new Nigeria, but maintained that he would never be deterred by the obstacles along the way to victory.
“I have always lived my life in the most law-abiding manner possible. Sometimes, as humans, we make mistakes, but I will never knowingly break any law. I am, therefore, not afraid of the lies and propaganda against my person. They are part of the journey to a new Nigeria,” Obi concluded.
