Former presidential spokesman, Reno Omokri, on Wednesday disclosed that former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, lied about Nigeria’s debt profile.

Omokri said Obi’s lies regarding Nigeria’s debt are scaring foreign investors away from the country.

He disclosed this while featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

Omokri also disclosed that some foreign investors based in Nigeria are willing to leave the country due to Obi’s lies.

According to Omokri: “That is not true. He doesn’t rile me up. I rile him up.

“The reason why I came here is because I’m a patriot. Peter Obi lied. You know, foreign direct investors are watching your programme, who are making investment decisions not to come to Nigeria. There are foreign investors in Nigeria that are making investment decisions to leave Nigeria because of the lie he told.

“One of the lies he told is that President Tinubu has borrowed more than the administrations of Yar’adua, Jonathan, Buhari. That is a blatant lie.

“I have here with me data from the Debt Management Office, and Nigerians who are watching can go to DMO.com and search Debt Management Office, Nigeria State of Indebtedness 2015.

“As of 2015, Nigeria was owing a total of 63 billion dollars. When Buhari was leaving office, Nigeria was owing 113 billion dollars. Today, from the DMO, our debt has gone from 113 billion dollars to 97 billion dollars, meaning that Tinubu has reduced our debt by over 14 billion dollars.

“We should be appreciating this man. Yet Peter Obi came here and lied to the Nigerian people. He took the debts and translated them into naira to make it look like the debts have increased.”

Former Military Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, on Wednesday disclosed that ex-President Muhammadu Buhari is not inclined to worldly and materialistic overtures.

Gowon said nobody can doubt the fact that Buhari has the interest of Nigeria at heart and has guarded his integrity.

He disclosed this on Wednesday during the public presentation and book launch of “According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesman’s Experience,” authored by Garba Shehu, the former Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity.

Commending Shehu for the book, Gowon said communication plays a vital role in governance and nation-building.

According to Gowon: “I know General Buhari to be a staunch believer in the Nigerian project. I know him as a person not inclined to worldly or materialistic overtures.

“I also know that he will do everything to keep his integrity intact. If the truth must be told, Gen. Buhari is a man of austere lifestyle.”

Abia State Secondary Education Management Board, SEMB, has disclosed that some teachers who are supposed to be teaching in the state’s senior secondary schools are abroad, but still collecting salaries.

This is even as SEMB said that only 1,700 teachers were available in senior secondary schools in the state before the recent recruitment exercise carried out by Governor Alex Otti.

The Director in charge of SEMB, Mrs. Ngozi Onwubiko, made this known on Wednesday in her office while speaking to journalists about the range of reforms introduced by her Board.

Mrs. Onwubiko, who explained the reasons for the ongoing physical verification for senior secondary school teachers in Abia, said, “Do you know that some of these teachers are abroad and they will be taking salary?”

She pointed out that the verification, which is being done in coordination with the offices of the Head of Service and Accountant General, is designed to ensure that only qualified and available teachers remain on the payroll.

Mrs. Onwubiko also said that SEMB enforces a zero-tolerance policy for absenteeism and truancy among teachers, warning that any staff of the Secondary Education Management Board found or confirmed to be extorting teachers for preferred postings will be queried and punished severely.

The Director, who expressed gratitude to Governor Otti for the recruitment of more than 2,000 new teachers for senior secondary schools, said that the last employment of teachers for secondary schools in Abia took place in 2007.

Mrs. Onwubiko, however, said that 4,000 more teachers are needed in the secondary education system to meet the current demand in science and technical subjects of the 260 active schools.

The SEMB Director announced that some schools that closed down in the past have been revived by Governor Otti, with students back to study, adding that weekly sports in secondary schools would prepare students for future employment opportunities and dissuade them from deviant acts.