Tanko went on to criticize the Lamidi Apapa faction of the Labour Party, accusing them of making unfounded attempts to tarnish Obi’s reputation in the eyes of the Nigerian electorate.
Previously, Abayomi Arabambi, the spokesperson for the Labour Party faction, had alleged discrepancies in Peter Obi’s academic certificates during an interview on AIT News. This controversy emerged amidst a broader debate concerning the authenticity of the credentials submitted by President Bola Tinubu to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Both Obi and his Peoples Democratic Party counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, had raised questions about President Tinubu’s academic documents. In response, Arabambi pointed out discrepancies in Obi’s academic qualifications, asserting that it was unfair for Obi to challenge the President on this issue.
Arabambi specifically claimed that the name on the academic certificate Obi claimed to have earned from the University of Nigeria in Nsukka did not match the name on his National Youth Service Corps certificate.
However, in response to these allegations on Monday, Tanko firmly defended Obi, describing Arabambi as one of the expelled members of the party who are falsely representing themselves as members. Tanko also said that it would be implausible for Peter Obi to possess his late brother’s UNN certificate, especially considering that they pursued different courses during their studies.
He stated, “Obi in his capacity as Labour Party standard bearer had innocuously advised the embattled President to rest the certificate-gate around him and save the country further embarrassment by reintroducing himself and putting the records straight.
“A simple patriotic advisory that was informed by belief in anything that is connected to national development, but their hirelings, freebooters and lawless adventurers prefer to insult our candidate with fabrications.
“In one of his pieces of fiction, they claimed that Obi was impersonating his dead senior brother; a farce, slapstick comedy from hell. Obi’s most senior brother is alive. One of his senior brothers who died was in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN years ahead of Obi and read Computer Science while Obi read Philosophy.
