Arabambi Obi 2027 — Comrade Abayomi Arabambi, National Vice Chairman of the Labour Party in the South-West, has alleged that Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi presented conflicting names across his WAEC result, university certificate, and NYSC discharge papers. Consequently, he described the discrepancies as evidence of what he called multiple identities, and 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. Rather, he drew them from his direct involvement in the Labour Party’s 2022 presidential primary in Asaba, Delta State, where he personally interacted with Obi at the point of documentation. However, he maintained that the full picture only became clear to him after later disputes within the party.

Arabambi Obi 2027: How the Allegations Began

According to Arabambi, Obi arrived at the primary venue while Arabambi was mobilising support for a different aspirant, Oluwadare Fabiyi Joseph. As a result, the process was disrupted by Obi’s entry, and party leadership intervened to ensure the primary proceeded with Obi as the sole candidate. In Arabambi’s account, this moment marked the beginning of the sequence of events that led him to question Obi’s documentation.

“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,” he said.

Furthermore, Arabambi said the party’s then National Chairman, Julius Abure, personally asked him to persuade his own candidate to step aside so the primary could proceed. Consequently, he complied with the chairman’s request despite his reservations, placing him directly at the centre of the process that produced Obi’s candidacy.

“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,” he explained.

Arabambi Obi 2027: The Certificate Question

Shortly after Obi emerged as flagbearer, Arabambi said he was present while Obi filled out his INEC candidate form. At that point, he claimed he asked Obi directly whether he held any academic qualification beyond his WAEC result — and that Obi’s answer was an unambiguous no.

“I remember asking him a question, do you have any other certificate? He said no. I said, no problem,” Arabambi recalled.

Nevertheless, Arabambi said Obi went on to tell him, once they were in Abuja, that he had attended the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, completed the National Youth Service Corps, and held a First Leaving Certificate. No further documentation, he said, was produced at that stage.

“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,” he said.

The matter resurfaced later, Arabambi said, during post-election tribunal proceedings — coinciding with the period when questions about President Bola Tinubu’s own academic history had become a major national controversy. At that time, he pressed Obi to submit his certificates formally to INEC rather than withholding them, though he claimed Obi deflected the request until they were both back in Abuja.

“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,” Arabambi said.

Once the certificates were eventually submitted, Arabambi alleged, a later internal crisis within the Labour Party changed the dynamic. Specifically, he claimed associates close to Obi began supplying information that cast doubt on the authenticity of his academic record.

“So, we submitted it, this is school cert, this is WAEC… His own people started giving us information concerning him,” he said.

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Arabambi Obi 2027: Conflicting Names Across Documents

At the centre of Arabambi’s allegation is a claimed discrepancy between the name Obi wrote on his INEC candidate form and the name printed on his WAEC certificate. According to Arabambi, the INEC form — filled in Obi’s own handwriting — listed him as “Peter Gregory Obi,” while the WAEC certificate submitted separately carried no reference to the name “Peter” at all.

“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 said.

He described this as the first of several unexplained changes in Obi’s documented identity, since the WAEC certificate instead listed the name as “Obi Gregory Onwubuasi.”

“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 said.

From there, Arabambi alleged that Obi’s University of Nigeria, Nsukka certificate introduces yet another version of the name, reinserting “Peter” in a different position. Because the order and composition of a person’s names carry legal significance under Nigerian law, he argued, the versions cannot be treated as interchangeable.

“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,” he said.

To illustrate why he considers the reordering significant, Arabambi drew a legal comparison:

“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.”

Admission Requirements and Certificate Dates

Beyond the naming discrepancies, Arabambi also questioned the academic requirements Obi would have needed to gain admission into the University of Nigeria, Nsukka to study Philosophy. Specifically, he claimed the standard requirement at the time was five credits, including English and Mathematics, and alleged Obi’s WAEC result fell short.

“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,” he said.

Additionally, Arabambi flagged the date printed on Obi’s university certificate — 15 December 1984, which he noted fell on a Saturday — as unusual for a registrar’s office to issue on a weekend.

“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 said.

He extended the same scrutiny to Obi’s NYSC discharge certificate, which he said carries yet another variation of the name, this time with additional initials that had not appeared on earlier documents.

“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,” he speculated, without offering supporting evidence.

He also pointed out that the NYSC certificate bears the date of 1 May — observed in Nigeria as Workers’ Day, a public holiday — and questioned why such a document would be processed on that date.

“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 said.

“He Who Comes to Equity Must Come With Clean Hands”

Taken together, Arabambi argued, these discrepancies undermine Obi’s standing to campaign on a platform of transparency and accountability. To make his point, he invoked a familiar legal maxim.

“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,” he said.

Moreover, Arabambi linked his claims to an assertion that Obi was once detained at a United Kingdom airport over conflicting names on his travel documents, though he did not provide a specific date or further detail.

“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 claimed.

He extended the same concern to Obi’s National Identification Number (NIN) registration, arguing it remains unclear which version of the name is officially attached to the record. He also noted a spelling difference in the surname “Onwubuasi” across documents — one version ending in “I,” another in “E” — framing both points as issues for litigation.

“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,” he said.

Legal Basis and Next Steps

Pressed on the legal basis for his claims, Arabambi said the case would centre on the absence of a formal affidavit of change of name to account for the varying versions of Obi’s name across official documents. As a legal practitioner, he said, he was confident in his understanding of the requirement.

“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 said.

He also referenced an earlier comment Obi reportedly made on Rufai Oseni’s podcast, in which Obi 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 discrepancies he outlined exceeded that threshold.

“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%,” he said.

Denying Political Sponsorship

Anticipating backlash from Obi’s supporters — commonly known as “Obidients” — Arabambi said he expected accusations that he was politically sponsored to make the claims. However, he rejected any suggestion of a personal or financial relationship with President Tinubu, saying his only connection to the presidency was attending the same church as the First Lady.

“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,” he said.

Finally, asked directly whether his position amounted to a campaign to stop Obi from contesting in 2027, Arabambi denied that this was his intention. Instead, he framed his concerns as being about accountability rather than political exclusion, pointing to Obi’s history of exiting political parties — from APGA through PDP to ADC and now the NDC — as part of a wider pattern.

“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,” he said.

Note: The claims in this article are allegations made by Abayomi Arabambi and have not been independently verified. Peter Obi’s response, if sought, was not included in the original interview material.