Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party for the 2023 election, on Saturday, clarified his comments about schooling with former Rivers State governor, Peter Odili.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that Obi on Thursday seemed to have said that he met former Rivers governor Peter Odili in high school.
“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,” Obi while taking a veiled dig at the credibility of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during a project commissioning event organised by Governor Nyesom Wike had said.
“Everyone knows where I was schooled and my schoolmates. Not some people that no one knows their schoolmates or the schools they attended.”
Critics of Obi have said Obi was lying.
But clarifying what he meant, the former Anambra State governor said via his verified Twitter handle that most students of Christ the King College (CKC) “all cherished and had good memories of his (Odili’s) football exploits when we got into the school”.
He stated that Odili had graduated from CKC before he got into the school.
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.
— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) November 19, 2022
“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,” Obi said.
“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.”
Sir, your message is always clear. You have said it before now during your school days He, Dr Peter Odili was your senior in the school and not same class – Noted my Excellence.