The Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, was detained by United Kingdom immigration authorities during the Easter break over offences believed to have been committed by an impostor, the party’s Presidential Campaign Council said on Wednesday. According to a statement by Diran Onifade, head of the Obi‑Datti media team, Obi was detained for questioning on Good Friday, 7 April 2023, when he arrived at Heathrow Airport from Nigeria. He was later released after Nigerians who witnessed the incident raised an uproar.
The statement explained that Obi, who had lived in the United Kingdom for over a decade, joined the queue for the usual airport protocols when immigration officials handed him a detention notice and asked him to step aside. He was questioned for a long time, prompting immediate concern from the crowd, many of whom recognized him as a prominent figure for Nigerians, Africans at home, and the diaspora. The officials, taken aback by the reaction, disclosed that Obi was being investigated for a duplication offence—someone had been impersonating him in London. The implication, they warned, was that the impostor could be committing serious crimes that might be recorded under Obi’s name.
Reports indicate that the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Obi third in the 25 February presidential election, with 6,101,533 votes. Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party placed second with 6,984,520 votes, while Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress was declared the winner with 8,794,726 votes. Obi secured over 25 percent of the votes in 30 states, exceeding the 24‑state threshold required by the constitution. The Labour Party and Obi have since challenged the results at the tribunal.
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