Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has warned that defending unverified academic certificates for political reasons poses a serious threat to Nigeria’s moral values and institutional standards.
In a statement titled “By Making Excuses for Unverified Certificates, We Are Planting Poison in the Soul of Our Society,” Obi argued that the controversy surrounding questionable credentials should not be viewed as a matter concerning a particular individual, but as a broader issue of national values, accountability and integrity.
According to him, any society that tolerates unverified academic credentials among those occupying positions of authority risks weakening the standards upon which education, professionalism and public trust are built.
Obi stressed that the debate is fundamentally about protecting standards rather than defending or attacking any political figure. He said citizens must be willing to insist on proper verification of credentials irrespective of personal political loyalties.
“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 stated.
He maintained that the process through which individuals attain public office is as important as their performance while in office. For Obi, legitimacy in leadership begins with honesty and transparency in the qualifications presented to the public.
The former Anambra State governor criticised the tendency of supporters to dismiss concerns about blurred, missing, questionable or unverified certificates simply because the affected individual belongs to their political camp. He warned that such selective outrage undermines the rule of law and erodes public confidence in institutions.
“We cannot continue to excuse blurred, missing, questionable or unverified credentials simply because they belong to someone we support,” he said.
Obi argued that normalising the abandonment of basic verification procedures could create a dangerous precedent with far-reaching consequences. He cautioned that if society becomes indifferent to credential verification today, future generations may inherit institutions populated by unqualified individuals.
“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 warned.
He described such a scenario as a direct threat to education, healthcare, justice and governance, noting that professional competence depends on rigorous standards and credible certification processes.
Obi further stated that Nigeria must not sacrifice its future for short-term political convenience. He said transactional politics should never take precedence over truth, merit and accountability.
“Nigeria cannot sacrifice its future on the altar of today’s transactional politics,” he declared.
The former presidential candidate called for the building of a society in which truth is not determined by party affiliation and where standards are applied consistently to all citizens. He insisted that accountability should not be selective and that no individual should be considered above scrutiny.
He also appealed to Nigerians to reflect on the long-term consequences of their actions and political choices. According to him, history will judge citizens not only by the individuals they defended but also by the principles they chose to uphold.
“History will judge us not only by those we defended, but by the principles we were willing to defend,” Obi said.
He urged Nigerians to choose truth over convenience, standards over sentiment and the future over political expediency, arguing that genuine national progress requires moral courage and respect for due process.
Concluding the statement, Obi reiterated his belief that meaningful change in Nigeria remains possible if citizens are prepared to uphold what is right even when doing so is uncomfortable or politically inconvenient.
“A New Nigeria is possible, but only if we are willing to do the right thing, even when it is inconvenient,” he said.
