The National Association of Polytechnic Student (NAPS) has accused accused Peter Obi, former Governor of Anambra State and Presidential candidate of the Labour party of deliberately distorting facts and spreading falsehood over his comments in Student Union Government (SUG) elections crisis that engulfed the institution few days ago.
Mr. Peter Obi had, via X, Obi decried the growing culture of lawlessness in Nigeria, linking the chaos in the student election to the broader decay in public conduct and leadership behaviour, adding that two students lost their lives as security forces shot indiscriminately at them for no fault of theirs.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Monday, the NAPS President, Comrade Eshiofune Paul Oghayan lambasted Mr. Obi for misleading Nigerians with inflammatory and fictitious utterances without verifying the information in line with his mantra of ‘go and verify’.
The text read in part, “we address you today, not merely as student leaders, but as a custodians of conscience, a voice sharpened by duty, and a pen guided by justice. In a world where the vile antics of propaganda have become weapons in the hands of desperate politicians, it is our duty to speak boldly, clearly, and unapologetically.
“On behalf of the over 28.1 million Nigerian polytechnic students, I want to state that an Independent Electoral Observation Team was deployed to Auchi Polytechnic, Edo State to monitor the 2025/2026 SUG elections and from the overwhelming evidence made available to us including videos, audio recordings, photographs, observer reports, medical confirmations, and multiple stakeholder accounts, no life was lost during the unfortunate incident.
“It is rather unfortunate that Mr. Peter Obi chose to be a merchant of falsehood with the intent of bringing the school management to disrepute when he could have easily verified what happened to avert the ridicule and public embarrassment his unguarded utterances caused.
“Let the truth echo across every town and campus in Nigeria: No student died. Few students sustained minor injuries from teargas exposure, but no hospitalization was recorded. In fact, even the use of tear gas was to disperse those who were hired to sabotage the elections and not to target law abiding students as Peter Obi claimed.
“We challenge Mr. Peter Obi and his sympathizers to present the names, faces, and families of the alleged victims. If none can be found, then it is a deliberate fabrication, weaponized for political clout. Mr. Peter Obi’s failure to verify; a man who constantly urges Nigerians to verify is not just hypocrisy. It is a philosophical betrayal. It is the commodification of grief, the manipulation of emotion, and the exploitation of students to attack the government of the day”.
NAPS further by demnded a retraction and public apology Mr. Obi whom the accused of serially misleading the public with wrong statistics and using silence to cover up the errors without taking responsibility for the gaffes
“Mr. Peter Obi has, over time mastered the act of deception in his public speeches using flawed data without the decency to apologize. If he can so easily mislead the public over a student election, how then can he lead a country of over 200 million citizens? This is a red flag and it calls to question the moral compass of supposed leaders.
“We, therefore, demand a public apology from Mr. Peter Obi to the entire Nigerian student community and specifically to Auchi Polytechnic, published on the front page of at least four national dailies within 72 hours. Failure to do so will be met with a massive peaceful student protests and picketing of his business and political offices across the nation”, the text added.
While cautioning media houses against reporting unverified news stories, the Union thanked the Polytechnic Rector, Dr. Salisu Shehu Umar for “always living up to his responsibilities” and urged him to “set up a committee that will be saddled with the responsibility of unraveling the cause of the crisis to forestall future occurrences”.
