Peter Obi, the candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25 presidential poll, has opened up on his recent encounter with UK immigration officials claiming he was never arrested.
On April 12, LP announced that Obi was harassed and detained at Heathrow Airport in London over alleged impersonation.
The party said Obi was questioned for a “long time” and that it took the intervention of Nigerians for him to be released.
“He was questioned for a long time, and it was very strange for a man who lived for over a decade in that country,” the party had said.
UK immigration has remained silent about the incident, and Obi had not directly addressed the matter — until now.
In an interview with Arise TV on Monday, the former Anambra governor explained his side of events.
Obi said he was stopped for a routine immigration check while contradicting his party’s claim that he was questioned for a long time.
He said: “I was never arrested, I was never detained. And I did not commit any offence. I was stopped for a routine immigration check because there appeared to be a duplication of my identity and all this lasted for a maximum of 20 minutes.
“I lived in the UK from 1993 until 2005. From then till now is a period of 30 years. I have never been questioned, arrested or detained in any country in the world. I have never for any reason found myself being questioned for any offence.
“It was a routine immigration check and I was actually given all the due respect by the border personality that interviewed me, who told me ‘your identity has been duplicated, be careful’.”
Obi noted that despite once having a permanent residency in the UK, he chose to return to Nigeria, adding that “I was born a Nigerian. I will want to live and die a Nigerian”.
The former Anambra governor also spoke on the accusation of treason levelled against him by Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture.
The minister had made the claim while addressing foreign media in Washington DC.
Obi described Mohammed’s action as the “height of rascality”, adding that the trip was a waste of taxpayers’ money.
“I committed a treasonable offence and I am in Onitsha and my minister went to announce in Washington,” he said.
“The amount it cost Nigeria for him to go and announce that in Washington can build a block of six classrooms in a primary school.
“These are the reasons why we want a new Nigeria where things will work the way it works in other climes.”
Obi added that the minister could have invited him to defend the alleged act of treason.
