The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi has said that former Rivers State governor, Peter Odili, was not his classmate in secondary school.
OsunDaily News recalls Obi while commissioning a project organised by Governor Nyesom Wike in Rivers, said, “Peter Odili was my senior at (CKC); we played football together. If Odili is not able to play, just know we have lost that day.”
“Everyone knows my school and my schoolmates. Not some people that no one knows their schoolmates or the schools they attended.”
Reacting, critics revealed that Odili graduated before Peter Obi gained admission into CKC because Odili was born in 1948 and graduated from high school in 1967, while Obi was admitted into CKC in 1973 and graduated in 1978.
Reacting to the backlash from his statement, the LP flag bearer insisted that he was misunderstood.
He explained that when he meant was that he and Odili were simply alumni from the same school.
Obi said, “My remarks when I visited Port Harcourt have been wrongly interpreted by some people. The former Governor of Rivers State, Dr Peter Odili and I are among other prominent Nigerians that schooled in Christ the King College (CKC) Onitsha, and we remain alumni of the school.
“I did not say that former Governor Odili was my classmate, rather I said that he was a great footballer in my school, and we all cherished and had good memories of his football exploits when we got into the school.
“I was in CKC from 1973 to 1978 and Dr Peter Odili had graduated before I got into the school. He was such a fabulous footballer whose image still loomed large even in our time, especially considering the fact that my Primary School was very close to CKC.”
