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The Young Igbo Intellectuals and Professionals says it is embarrassed by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi’s penchant for fake statistics.
The group said Obi is bringing shame on Ndigbo with the serial lies and distorted statistics he reels out confidently.
The group made this known today at a press conference in Awka, Anambra State.
In his address, Dr. Emeka Ugochukwu, said the situation is so dire and pathetic that a search of “Peter Obi Lies” returns a whooping 360 results while the query for “Peter Obi’s lies” has about 143 entries.
He said “this is simply not who the Ndigbo are”.
Ugochukwu added: “YIIP found it pertinent to raise this alarm because it is becoming increasingly clear that the falsehood he is peddling has sent Peter Obi’s chances in next year’s Presidential Election into a downward spiral from which it may never recover unless he urgently addressed this one handicap that has now placed him at a disadvantage among the presidential candidates.
“We find it most unfortunate that our kinsman’s attempt at manipulating the electorate through the distortion of facts has now made him into someone that has to be fact-checked even when he is says the most basic things. Lying is not in the DNA of Ndigbo and it is a great disservice that Obi’s penchant for constantly resorting to this undesirable trait is now being used to stereotype us, we are afraid that such negative stereotyping may become permanent even after the election if he does not stop.
” In addition to the damage he is doing to the Igbo nation, we are further concerned that no state runs on falsehood and the kind of fake news Obi is churning out will not only destroy the country but bring about economic, social and cultural war in the country if he is mistakenly voted into office without first purging himself of this repulsive tendency”.
The Young Igbo Intellectuals and Professionals, therefore, called on Peter Obi to “stop embarrassing Ndigbo with the serial lies and fake statistics he is dishing out”.
Ugochukwu said: “We demand that he reassesses his participation in the Presidential Election if he is unable to desist from ridiculing Ndigbo with the lies he tells as we are worried that his lies might increase some more and further shame our people now that campaigns are getting into higher gear.
“We advise Mr. Obi to seriously consider collapsing his candidacy into that of a candidate that is acceptable to Ndigbo because it is now glaring that his entire campaign strategy is structured around the approach of telling lies. However, his campaign’s loss of traction and diminishing popularity, even in our homeland in the southeast, is pointer to how people prefer truth over falsehood.
“Finally, we urge Mr. Obi to be aware that there will be consequences if he continues to embarrass Ndigbo with his serial lies and perverted statistics; we shall make any further lies that embarrass Ndigbo expensive for him and his political future.”