The minister had earlier made allegations of treason against Obi during engagements with journalists in Washington DC in the United States of America recently.
Mohammed accused Obi of inciting people to violence over the outcome of the February 25 presidential election, which to him, is treasonable.
But reacting, Obi, who was a guest at Arise Television’s Prime Time programme on Monday, Obi said Mohammed would have used the money wasted on attacking him to build some blocks of classrooms in his country home.
“That is the height of rascality. It was even announced in Washington. I committed a treasonable offence and I’m in Onitsha, and my minister (Lai Mohammed) went to announce it in Washington. This is the waste in governance we are talking about and people don’t want to understand.
“The amount it cost Nigeria for him to go and announce that in Washington can build a block of six classrooms in a primary school. I’m sure if you go to his village there are so many places where children don’t even have desks or classrooms to go to school.
“Instead of using that money for this purpose, he went to Washington to announce treason against someone in Onitsha.
“He doesn’t need to do that. From there he went to London, announcing the same thing when I’m in Nigeria. He should have come to see me or invited me and tell me my offense,” Obi intelligently replied when asked to react to allegations made by the minister against him”.
Meanwhile, Obi has come out to address several controversies concerning himself, over his alleged detention in the UK for treason accusations from Mohammed.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, the former Anambra State governor spoke on various issues surrounding his party and himself, especially issues pertaining to his recent alleged arrest in the UK on charges of impersonation.
The presidential candidate assured that he was in no way arrested but was simply pulled aside for a routine check to alert him on impersonation of his Visa to the UK.
“I was never arrested, nor detained, nor did I commit any offence in the UK. I was stopped for a routine immigration check because there appeared to be a duplication of my identity. I have lived in the UK for over 10 years and I have never been questioned, or arrested in the UK or any other part of the world in relation to an offense, I was questioned for less than 20 minutes and treated with the utmost respect.”
Peter Obi made it clear that he did not own any form of dual citizenship claiming that he even forfeited his permanent stay in the UK and stated that his honorary citizenship in Dallas, was nothing but a formal welcome to the state.
“My honorary citizenship in Dallas, Texas, means nothing. It doesn’t even grant me a visa-free entry to the United States. I have never applied, and I will never apply for citizenship of any other country, I am a Nigerian who believes in Nigeria.”
He said it was ‘rascality’ for the minister to accuse him of treason, due to comments made by his running mate in the election, Yusuf Datti Baba Ahmed.
“Lai Mohammed calling me out for treason is the height of rascality. I was in Onitsha and he went to Washington D.C to make that declaration. This is a waste of government resources, that money should have been channeled to build more classrooms.
“I’m sure if you go to his village, there are so many children that don’t even have desks to go to school. And instead of using that money to do it he used that money to go to Washington to announce treason to someone who is in Onitsha.”
He also cleared the air concerning rumours of the ‘Yes Daddy’ audio that was alleged to be a recorded phone conversation between him and Bishop David Oyedepo calling the election a ‘religious warfare’. He did this by saying, “I am not a religious or tribal bigot, but let them make of that what they will.”
In concluding the interview, the LP candidate ended by stating that he was in no way desperate to become the next president of Nigeria.
“I am not desperate to become president. I’m desperate to see Nigeria work.”
