FACT-CHECK: Did Peter Obi Deport and Enforce ID Cards for Northerners in Anambra as a Governor?

By Sebiotimo Abdullateef

Claim:

Peter Obi deported Northerners, ordered them to carry ID card during his tenure as Anambra state governor.

Verdict:

False. Peter Obi did not at any time mandated northerners living in Anambra state during his time as governor of the state to carry ID cards or deport them.

Full-Text:

In the heat of build-up to the 2027 general election, several discussions have emanated from the media about the various aspirants and their past records. In one of those discussions, former National Health Insurance Scheme executive secretary and chief executive officer, Prof. Yusuf Usman while appearing on Trust TV’s Daily Politics programme claimed Peter Obi deported northerners and mandated them to have identification cards which carried their names, place of origin and occupations. The professor of hematology-oncology and bone marrow transplant and a public commentator, while explaining how northerners will frown at Peter Obi despite Kwankwaso backing Prof. Yusuf said:

“We (muslim northerners) are going to interrogate  Peter Obi’s tenure when he was the governor of Anambra state, what he did to northerners in 2022. We all know that he deported them and even made them ID card where their names, where they are from and occupation”

The video has since then sparked widespread controversy in the country, especially with the comment raising concerns about the former Anambra state governor being a tribal and religious bigot. As a result of the potential of this claim to cause misleading narratives ahead of the presidential election, FactCheckAfrica investigated the claim.

Verification: 

FactCheckAfrica, in a bid to verify the claim, checked on archived reports and documented records to ascertain if anything of such ever happened and if it is linked to Peter Obi’s tenure as Anambra state governor. The check revealed there was once a proposal of an identification policy in the South-East for northerners.

However, the claim was not linked to Peter Obi of Anambra state but to former Imo state governor Rochas Okorocha in 2014 under an initiative tagged “Know your neighbour.”

Our findings revealed that northerners who live in Imo state were expected to possess identification cards containing details such as their names, passport photographs, occupation, business location, and endorsements from leaders of their trade associations and Hausa community leaders.

The Rochas Okorocha administration made the announcement in June 2014, almost three months after Peter Obi had completed his tenure as the governor of Anambra state. This makes it unrealistic for him to orchestrate such a policy at the time.

Reports further showed that some Northern leaders in Imo State supported the proposal. Abdulahi Dikko Ajara, identified in reports as a leader of the Hausa Community and Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association in Imo State at the time, reportedly explained that the idea originated from Northern community leaders themselves as a means of identifying genuine residents and and a means of tightening security.

However, the policy later attracted criticism from several Northern groups. This prompted the  Nigerian Senate, according to a video of a plenary session, to caution the Imo State Government against proceeding with it.

No credible report, government document, archived statement, or contemporaneous news publication links Peter Obi or the Anambra State Government to such a policy.

The claim of northerners deportation, as alleged by the former NHIS boss, FactCheckAfrica gathered that while Peter Obi’s government truly removed people from his state in 2011, they were beggars who were non-indigenes from neighboring Akwa Ibom and Ebonyi states and not northerners. The Anambra state government would later defend their action as part of efforts to discourage street begging and child exploitation on major roads within the state.

No verified evidence was found showing that Northerners were specifically deported under Obi’s administration.

Verdict:

The claim that Peter Obi asked Northerners to carry identity cards in Anambra State is false. Findings show that the ID card proposal originated from Rochas Okorocha’s administration in Imo State in 2014, not from Peter Obi in Anambra State. Claims that Obi deported Northerners are also unsupported by available evidence.