Making Excuses for Politicians with Unverified Certificates Is Poisoning Society, Obi Warns
Former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, has warned that making excuses for elected officeholders and politicians with unverified certificates is dangerous, describing it as poisoning society.
Obi stressed that a nation that tolerates unverified academic credentials at any level of leadership, regardless of who is involved, risks destroying the very standards upon which a society is built.
He noted that the issue is not about an individual but about standards, accountability, and the values leaders choose to pass on to the next generation.
“We cannot continue to excuse blurred, missing, questionable, or unverified credentials simply because they belong to someone we support.
“The process through which people attain positions of responsibility matters greatly. How we get into leadership is as important as what we do with leadership,” he said.
The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) also warned that if the abandonment of basic verification is normalised, Nigeria may one day have professors who never attended a university, doctors who never studied medicine, and judges who never studied law.
“That is the dangerous precedent we must never allow,” Obi stated, emphasising that Nigeria cannot sacrifice its future on the altar of today’s transactional politics.
He urged Nigerians to build a society where truth is not partisan, standards are not negotiable, and accountability applies equally to everyone.
Obi explained that history would judge Nigerians and their leaders not only by those they defended but also by the principles they were willing to defend.
He added that Nigerians must choose truth over convenience, standards over sentiments, and the future over political expediency.
