Former aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Pastor Reno Omokri, has come hard on the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi.
Omokri who is an ardent supporter of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, of the PDP, noted that the academic records of the APC candidate, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, was more straightforward than Obi’s school records.
Reno’s submission came barely 12 hours Peter Obi denied saying that the former governor of Rivers state, Peter Odili was his classmate in high school.
Recall that Obi had during a project commissioning event organised by Nyesom Wike in Rivers opined that, “Peter Odili was my senior at (CKC); we played football together. If Odili is not able to play, just know we have lost that day.
Fact checking his statement, critics took to their social media platforms to condemn him. They said Odili was born in 1948 and graduated from high school in 1967, while Obi was admitted into CKC in 1973 and graduated in 1978.
They noted that Obi couldn’t have been Odili’s schoolmate, following the date Odili graduated (1967) and when Peter Obi gained admission (1973).
In his reaction, Obi in a statement sent to Vanguard stated that he was misinterpreted, noting that he never said Odili was his classmate, rather he said that Odili was a great footballer in his school.
His words: “My remarks when I visited Port Harcourt have been wrongly interpreted by some people. The former Governor of Rivers State, Dr Peter Odili and I, are among other prominent Nigerians that schooled in Christ the King College (CKC) Onitsha, and we remain alumni of the school.
I did not say that former Governor Odili was my classmate, rather I said that he was a great footballer in my school, and we all cherished and had good memories of his football exploits when we got into the school.
“I was in CKC from 1973 to 1978 and Dr Peter Odili had graduated before I got into the school. He was such a fabulous footballer whose image still loomed large even in our time, especially considering the fact that my Primary School was very close to CKC.
“The Primary School that I attended, Santa Maria School/Holy Trinity School, were both owned by the same Catholic Church that owned Christ the King College (CKC), Onitsha. In fact, both Primary Schools were feeder schools to CKC, and a large number of pupils who passed through the schools ended up in CKC for secondary education.”
Irked with Obi’s response, Omokri via his Twitter handle said: “Soludo was right about them. They are a mob. They have no head, and as such, can’t reason. And that Tinubu did not attend Chicago State University is an obvious lie. I should know. I believed the lie and wasted $4000 plus flying to Chicago to investigate in person!
“And now, Peter Obi has vindicated me. Where are all those who spun tales about the civil war delaying Odili? Obi lied. He has now come out as usual, again, to blame it on misinterpretation. But what he said was clear. He claimed he met Odili at CKC, which is a lie.
“Obi was captured on video saying Odili was his senior at CKC. He also said he and Odili played ball together. Both claims were false. And Obi waited until we unearthed proof from Dr. Odili’s biography before fessing up to his lie. He was forced to come contrite!
Obi and his Obidients were too busy trying to fault Tinubu’s claims of graduating from Chicago State University that they forgot to put their Odili lie together. Tinubu’s academic record is more straightforward than Obi’s school records!
“Again, I am not sure that so called Southwest College certificate floating around really nails Tinubu. Tinubu actually went to Richard J. Daley College before attending Chicago State University. Stay focused!
“If you say he didn’t attend or graduate from Chicago State University, you will have egg on your face. Because he did. He Actually Attended and Graduated From Chicago State University.”