The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has denied claims that he has a file with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), insisting that he has never had any dealings with the agency.
Obi made the clarification during an interview on 90 Minutes Africa, while responding to a claim by Nigeria’s Ambassador-designate to Mexico, Reno Omokri, that presidential candidates in the country have FBI files.
Asked about the allegation, Obi said he was unaware of any such file and had never met the FBI.
“I don’t know. I’ve never met the FBI,” he said.
The former Anambra State governor also called for greater transparency among public figures, challenging anyone with official records concerning him to make them public.
He specifically appealed to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), to release his complete academic records, including details of his admission and academic results throughout his university years.
“I’m begging the University of Nigeria to make available every document in my file, how I was admitted and all my results from year one to final year,” he said.
Obi extended the call to institutions where he attended executive education programmes, including Lagos Business School, the London School of Economics, Columbia Business School, Kellogg Business School, Harvard Business School, Oxford, Cambridge, INSEAD and IMD.
According to him, people seeking public office should be prepared to have their records subjected to scrutiny.
“If you seek public life, you should subject yourself to public scrutiny because you are a leader and you must exemplify the values that make society work,” he said.
Obi also challenged other presidential candidates to embrace similar transparency by making their records available for public scrutiny.