In a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, October 16, 2023, Tanko described the speculation as a comedy from hell saying, Obi and his late brother did not study the same course at the University of Nigeria (UNN).
The spokesman of the Labour Party faction, Abayomi Arabambi, had recently alleged some discrepancies in the academic credentials of the former Governor of Anambra State.
Arabambi while appearing on an AIT programme on Thursday, October 12, 2023, claimed that Obi’s certificate from the UNN bears a name that differs from what was written on his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate.
In his claim, Arabambi said it was unfair for Obi to berate Tinubu when he also has discrepancies in his academic credentials.
Reacting to the allegation against the Labour Party presidential candidate, Tanko described Arabambi as one of Tinubu’s lawless adventurers hired to insult Obi with fabrications.
“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,” Tanko said.
Tanko further labelled the LP factional leader, Lamidi Apapa as a “Political hirelings and buccaneers indulged in menial work of character assassination to ostensibly soil the name of our Presidential candidate.”
He maintained that Apapa and Arabambi were no longer members of the Labour Party.
