Peter Obi says he was never arrested or detained in the UK

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25 presidential election, said on Monday that he was never arrested or detained by officials of the British government. Obi made this clarification following a rumour that circulated earlier in the month of April that he was detained or arrested by British immigration officers at the Heathrow international airport, London, on charges that his identity was duplicated.

“I was never arrested or detained, and I did not commit any offence. I was stopped for a routine immigration check because there appears to be a duplication of my identity, and all these lasted for a maximum of 20 minutes, and I was treated with due respect,” Obi said when he appeared on the Arise Television Prime Time news night programme to talk about recent developments in the political scene, especially as they concern his party and his experiences since his defeat to the president-elect, Ahmed Bola Tinubu.

The former Anambra State governor made it clear that he still possesses a very clean record, as he has never been detained, questioned, or arrested for any offence during his 30-year stay in the UK.

“I live in the UK for 30 years, and I have never been questioned, arrested, or detained in any country in the world. I have never, for any reason or in any manner, found myself being questioned for any offence,” he said.

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He insisted that what went down at Heathrow International Airport was a case of carrying out a routine immigration check because his identity had been alleged to have been compromised.

“I have not committed any offence, so it was a routine immigration check, and it lasted for less than 20 minutes, and I was actually given all the due respect by the border personality, who told me that my identity has been duplicated.

“And I have a written document from the British government clarifying that I was never detained and that it was a few minutes’ routine check,” he added.

Meanwhile, on his alleged visit to perhaps congratulate the president-elect on his electoral victory, the Labour Party presidential candidate insisted that he hasn’t at any time visited Tinubu. He accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of turning the whole political situation into a charade, chasing things that are not real or right.

He explained that “it did not happen; I never visited him. I never visited him; they have turned the whole thing into a joke—what it is now is what are we going to do to crush this person, to label him this—if it is not tribal bigot, religious bigot, if it is not sticking, we would find his family, maybe he has a love child somewhere, all sorts of things.”

He advised his followers to stay focused and steadfast on the path they had chosen.

“I did not visit anybody. To my followers, I say we remain steadfast in the course we have chosen, which is to do the right thing. We went into the election with a strong faith in the law that was signed by Mr. President with a strong faith in the law signed by Nigerian President and in the statement of Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, in which he said globally that results would be uploaded in real time, but he failed woefully,” he said.