Peter Obi, a former Anambra State governor and 2023 presidential candidate, has called for greater scrutiny of academic qualifications presented by people seeking or occupying public office.
Obi said accepting questionable or unverified certificates could weaken public institutions and lower the standards expected of people in positions of authority.
He made the call on Tuesday in a statement titled, “By making excuses for unverified certificates, we are planting poison in the soul of our society.”
The former governor maintained that the authenticity of academic qualifications should be treated as a national issue rather than one determined by political affiliations or personal loyalty.
He said, “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.
“The issue is not about an individual. It is about standards, accountability, and the values we choose to pass on to the next generation.
“We cannot continue to excuse blurred, missing, questionable, or unverified credentials simply because they belong to someone we support. 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.
Obi further warned that failing to properly examine educational qualifications could set a precedent that may eventually affect the credibility of professionals occupying critical positions.
He said, “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.
“That is the dangerous precedent we must never allow. Nigeria cannot sacrifice its future on the altar of today’s transactional politics,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to support a system where the same standards apply to everyone, irrespective of political party, status or personal connections.
Obi said, “We must build a society where truth is not partisan, standards are not negotiable, and accountability applies equally to everyone.
“History will judge us not only by those we defended, but by the principles we were willing to defend. We must choose truth over convenience, standards over sentiments, and the future over political expediency,” he said.
The statement was issued after the Independent National Electoral Commission published the names and credentials of presidential and vice-presidential candidates ahead of the 2027 elections.
