Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has criticised the handling of academic credentials in Nigeria’s leadership recruitment process, warning that failure to verify certificates could undermine the country’s standards and institutions.
Obi, in a Facebook post on Tuesday, said the issue of academic credentials should not be treated as a partisan matter, stressing that verification and accountability must apply to everyone seeking or occupying public office.
The former Anambra State governor was reacting to results published on the portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in a post titled, “By Making Excuses for Unverified Certificates, We Are Planting Poison in the Soul of Our Society.”
According to him, Nigeria risks damaging the foundations of its society if it tolerates unverified academic qualifications at any level of leadership.
“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,” Obi said.
He maintained that the controversy should not be reduced to the personality of any individual, arguing that the focus should instead be on standards, accountability and the values being transmitted to future generations.
Obi said Nigerians should not excuse “blurred, missing, questionable, or unverified credentials” because they belong to political allies or individuals they support.
He argued that the process through which individuals attain positions of responsibility was as important as their performance after assuming office.
“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 NDC presidential candidate warned that normalising the abandonment of basic verification could create a dangerous precedent across professional and public institutions.
“If we normalise the abandonment of basic verification today, tomorrow we may have professors who never attended a university, doctors who never studied medicine, and judges who never studied law,” he said.
Obi said such a development would erode public confidence and undermine the integrity of critical institutions, warning that Nigeria must not sacrifice its long-term future for short-term political interests.
He called for a system in which truth and accountability are applied without regard to political affiliation, saying standards should not be compromised for political convenience.
“Nigeria cannot sacrifice its future on the altar of today’s transactional politics. We must build a society where truth is not partisan, standards are not negotiable, and accountability applies equally to everyone,” he said.
The former Anambra governor further urged Nigerians to focus on the principles they were prepared to defend rather than only the individuals they supported.
He said history would judge the country not only by the political figures defended by citizens, but also by the principles they upheld in moments of controversy.
“History will judge us not only by those we defended, but by the principles we were willing to defend,” Obi said. He called for truth, institutional standards and the country’s future to take precedence over political expediency.
“We must choose truth over convenience, standards over sentiments, and the future over political expediency,” he added.
Obi reiterated his belief in the possibility of a “New Nigeria”, but said achieving such a country would require citizens and leaders to uphold the right principles even when doing so was politically inconvenient.