The National Vice Chairman of the Labour Party in the South-West, Comrade Abayomi Arabambi, has alleged that Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi presented conflicting names across his WAEC result, university certificate and NYSC discharge papers.
He described the discrepancies as evidence of what he called multiple identities. He insisted the matter was serious enough to warrant Obi’s withdrawal from the 2027 presidential race.
Speaking during an exclusive interview on Eagle 102.5 FM’s Frontline programme on Monday, Arabambi said his claims were not speculative but drawn from his direct involvement in the Labour Party’s 2022 presidential primary in Asaba, Delta State. He said he personally interacted with Obi at the point of documentation. He maintained that it was only after later disputes within the party that the full picture of the alleged discrepancies became clear to him.
He recalled that on the day of the primary, Obi arrived at the venue while Arabambi was mobilising support for a different aspirant, Oluwadare Fabiyi Joseph. According to him, the process was disrupted by Obi’s entry, and the party leadership intervened to ensure the primary proceeded with Obi as the sole candidate. He said this was the beginning of the sequence of events that led him to question Obi’s documentation.
He stated, “I was not aware. I was not privy. Because that day, I had my own candidate Oluwadare Fabiyi Joseph, who mobilizes, our members from all over the state, delegate all over the state to Delta then, in Asaba.”
Arabambi said the party’s then National Chairman, Julius Abure, personally asked him to persuade his own candidate to step aside so that the primary could go ahead. He said this request placed him directly at the centre of the process that produced Obi’s candidacy. He maintained that he complied with the chairman’s request despite his reservations.
He said, “The chairman, you know Julius Abure compelled me to plead, you know, with that guy, with that candidate, which we did. And we started that primary, I think, around four.”
According to Arabambi, he was present when Obi filled out his INEC candidate form shortly after emerging as the party’s flagbearer. He said he asked Obi directly whether he possessed any academic qualification beyond his WAEC result. He claimed Obi’s answer at the time was an unambiguous no.
He said, “I remember asking him a question, do you have any other certificate? He said no. I said, no problem.”
Arabambi said Obi went on to tell him he had attended the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, completed the National Youth Service Corps, and held a First Leaving Certificate. He said no further documentation was produced at that stage. He maintained that this exchange took place in Abuja shortly after the primary.
He stated, “When we got Abuja? Yeah, he said he attended University of Nigeria at Nsukka, you know, his NYSC, First Leaving Certificate. All the rest, I don’t know. But that was it.”
Arabambi said the matter resurfaced during post-election tribunal proceedings, at a point when questions about President Bola Tinubu’s own academic history had become a major national controversy. He said he pressed Obi at the time to submit his certificates formally to INEC rather than withholding them. He claimed Obi deflected the request until they were both in Abuja.
He said, “Why can’t you give us your certificate? Let us attach and submit to INEC. He said, when you get to Abuja, when we go to Abuja, you will be subject to him here.”
According to Arabambi, the certificates were eventually submitted, but a later internal crisis within the Labour Party changed the dynamic entirely. He alleged that associates close to Obi began supplying information that cast doubt on the authenticity of his academic record. He said this was how the alleged inconsistencies first came to his attention in detail.
He said, “So, we submitted it, this is school cert, this is WAEC… His own people started giving us information concerning him. His own people started giving us information concerning him.”
Arabambi’s central allegation concerns what he said is a discrepancy between the name Obi wrote on his INEC candidate form and the name printed on his WAEC certificate. He claimed the INEC form, filled in Obi’s own handwriting, listed him as “Peter Gregory Obi.” He said the WAEC certificate submitted separately carried no reference to the name “Peter” at all.
He said, “He said his name, surname in bloc letter, OBI, other name in block letter, PETER GREGORY, that’s the word he wrote there, that’s page two of that particular candidate form… I, Peter Gregory.”
Arabambi described the disappearance of “Peter” from the WAEC certificate as the first of what he called several unexplained changes in Obi’s documented identity. He said the WAEC certificate instead listed the name as “Obi Gregory Onwubuasi.” He repeated a phrase describing this discrepancy several times through the interview.
He said, “In the WAEC, in his WAEC, that he submitted, he claimed his name is Obi Gregory Onwubuasi, Peter has disappeared back to heaven, Peter, he has disappeared back to heaven.”
He went on to allege that Obi’s university certificate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka introduces yet another version of the name, this time reinserting “Peter” in a different position within the full name string. He argued that under Nigerian legal practice, the order and composition of a person’s names carry legal significance and cannot be treated as interchangeable.
He said, “The University of Nigeria in Nsukka Certificate, he named that, Gregory, Peter has come back from Heaven, again to the Certificate, Onwubuasi, Obi, that’s the name of the University… in the WAEC, he said the same name, Obi, Gregory, Onwubuasi, Obi, now, in the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, his name now became Gregory, Peter, Onwubuasi, Obi.”
Arabambi argued that a change in the order of a person’s names is not a trivial matter in law, drawing a comparison to illustrate his point. He maintained that two differently ordered versions of the same set of names could be treated as referring to different legal identities. He said this was the basis for his broader argument.
He said, “In law, let me be very frank, Anthony Oluwaniyi, Dawood, he is different from Oluwaniyi Anthony Dawood, it is different, are you getting me, he is different.”
He also raised a question about the academic requirements Obi would have needed to meet to gain admission into the University of Nigeria, Nsukka to study Philosophy. He claimed the standard requirement at the time was five credits including English and Mathematics. He alleged Obi’s WAEC result fell short of that standard.
He said, “For you to study Philosophy… you must have English and Maths, credit in their mind, it is five credits, including English and Mathematics, but Obi successfully enter University with, passed in English, passed in Mathematics, and two other credits, so this is the second time Peter Obi will perform a miracle.”
Arabambi further questioned the date printed on Obi’s university certificate, noting that it was issued on the 15th of December, 1984, a date he said fell on a Saturday. He suggested it was unusual for a university registrar’s office to issue certificates on a weekend. He offered this as a further point requiring explanation.
He said, “His University of Nigeria Nsukka Certificate was also issued on 15th December 1984, which fell on Saturday, it was on Saturday, they issued the Certificate… other than the name, the different name here, that is still the identity.”
He extended the same line of questioning to Obi’s NYSC discharge certificate, which he said carries yet another variation of the name, this time with additional initials he said had not appeared on any of the earlier documents. He speculated, without offering evidence, about possible explanations for the change.
He said, “At the point of giving him Certificate of National Service, okay, that’s the NYSC Certificate, now, NYSC, okay, another name, will be, Gregory Peter I. K Onwubuasi, so, I don’t know whether he got married, or they married him, with this company, or maybe, he is now named Peter Onwubuasi.”
Arabambi also noted that the NYSC certificate bears a date of the 1st of May, which is observed in Nigeria as Workers’ Day and a public holiday. He said it was unusual for such a document to be processed and issued on a day set aside as a national holiday. He traced the origin of the holiday’s observance in Nigeria before making his point.
He said, “This Certificate also was signed on the May Day, Workers’ Day, for those who want to run their mouth, Workers’ Day in Nigeria… somebody now finished, from NYSC, and they now issued a Certificate on the May Day, first day of May, which is observed as a public holiday in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
He argued that the cumulative weight of these alleged discrepancies undermines Obi’s standing to campaign on a platform of transparency and accountability. He invoked a common saying to make his point about consistency between conduct and public posture. He said the matter could not simply be waved aside.
He said, “It is good, that when you live in a glass house, you don’t throw stones. He who comes to equity must come with clean hands. Obi is now adding four names to itself, and yet they want to contain President of Nigeria.”
Arabambi additionally linked his broader claims about inconsistent identification to an assertion that Obi was once held at a United Kingdom airport, which he attributed to conflicting names across travel documents. He did not provide a specific date or further detail on the alleged incident. He used it to argue that the naming discrepancies were not a uniquely Nigerian administrative matter.
He said, “It was detained, once he started like that, when he went to UK over at this claim of identity, he was living at the airport, he spent his time in their detention facility, he can’t go in, why he was detained, it was because of these discrepancies in name.”
He said the same question would extend to Obi’s National Identification Number registration, arguing that it remains unclear which version of the name is officially attached to that record. He said he had also noted a difference in spelling of the surname “Onwubuasi” across the documents, with one version ending in the letter I and another ending in E. He framed both points as issues to be resolved through litigation.
He said, “On his own NIN now, NIN, they are also going to join that suit, what is the name, it will be put on his NIN, is it this one that has his proper name, is it the one that has a Gregory Peter Onwubuasi… one Onwubuasi ended with I, the other one ended with E.”
Pressed on what legal basis he intended to rely on, Arabambi said the matter would centre on the absence of a formal affidavit of change of name to account for the varying versions of Obi’s name across his official documents. He said as a legal practitioner he was confident in his understanding of the requirement. He maintained that the case would be pursued through the courts.
He said, “Whether it is name alignment or not, he is supposed to be backed up by affidavit of change of name. Like I said, I am a litigant. I know what I’m talking about.”
He referenced an earlier public comment attributed to Obi on a podcast hosted by Rufai Oseni, in which Obi reportedly said he would step down from the presidential race if even one percent of corruption or inadequacy were established against him. Arabambi argued that the volume of discrepancies he had outlined exceeded that threshold. He said Obi should therefore be held to the standard he had set for himself.
He said, “On Rufai Oseni’s podcast, he said, if I am able to just establish 1% of corruption inadequacy against him, he said he will step down. I get it. He said he will step down from the presidential campaign. So, this one is even more than 1%.”
Arabambi said he expected backlash from Obi’s supporters, commonly referred to as “Obidients,” including accusations that he was politically sponsored to make the claims. He rejected any suggestion of a personal or financial relationship with President Tinubu. He said his only connection to the presidency was attending the same church as the First Lady.
He said, “They will be calling me a man of names sponsored by Tinubu. That is their business… I have never even met him. I belong to the same church as the First Lady. Nothing more.”
Asked directly whether his position amounted to a campaign to stop Obi from contesting in 2027, Arabambi denied that this was his intention, saying his concerns were about accountability rather than political exclusion. He argued that Obi’s history of exiting political parties amid controversy, from APGA through PDP to ADC and now the NDC, formed part of a wider pattern. He said this pattern, alongside the certificate discrepancies, informed his call for Obi to step aside.
He said, “It’s not that anybody is saying we should not contest. Normally, I expected Obi, with what I have shown now, with what he knew we did, don’t let me lie to you, Obi should step down from 2027 presidential election.”
