I won’t deliberately break UK, Nigerian laws, others, says Obi

Peter Obi, a former Nigerian governor in Anambra and the flag bearer of the Labour Party in the last presidential election, has, in a Twitter message, told his supporters that he “will never knowingly break any law” after his arrest and brief detention at the UK Heathrow Airport recently.

In a thread of tweets on Tuesday, Mr Obi was defiant about his pursuit of justice to claim his mandate from President-elect Bola Tinubu, believing he won the election in which he came third.

Mr Obi did not specifically mention his travails at the hands of the UK airport authorities, but his veiled reference to the fact that he would not “knowingly break any law” could suggest he was talking about his detention at Heathrow.

“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,” stated Mr Obi.

The ex-Anambra governor pointed out in his tweets that “there may be more mudslinging from those who are against the emergence of the New Nigeria but, I would never be deterred by the obstacles along the way to victory.” 

Mr Obi insisted he had “always lived my life in the most law-abiding manner.”

Regarding his lawsuits against APC and Mr Tinubu, the Labour Party presidential standard-bearer urged his supporters to “remain calm and steadfast in the journey to reclaiming their mandate of a New Nigeria,” promising that “I will never give up on this journey until victory is achieved.”

Mr Obi was recently detained and interrogated at Heathrow Airport in London over an allegation of identity theft, and Chinyere Stella Okunna, who served as his information commissioner and chief of staff, revealed the ex-governor was grilled “for a long time and subsequently handed a detention note” by the UK authorities over “duplicated” identity.

“The implication is that someone is impersonating Peter Obi. And that someone could implicate Obi in all manner of dubious and even criminal activities, and rope him into any number of offences; he could get Obi framed for one criminal act or another,” Ms Okunna had said in a social media post.

Although Mr Obi was later released on the same day of his arrest, the identity theft claim has stirred up controversy in the Labour Party candidate’s camp, leading some of his supporters to accuse the opposition parties of planting impersonators to rubbish Mr Obi’s reputation on foreign soil.

Diran Onifade, the spokesperson for the Obi-Datti presidential campaign, confirmed the detention and said traducers were going to unthinkable lengths to intimidate Mr Obi.

“It’s also not impossible that those urging him to leave the country may have planted the impersonators ostensibly to tar the Eagle’s immaculate appearance,” Mr Onifade said.

According to him, Mr Obi remains undaunted by their attempts and has since returned to Nigeria to resume his duties.