Former presidential aide and Ambassador-designate to Mexico, Reno Omokri, has reacted to a viral throwback photograph circulating on social media, stating that the individual many users identified as Peter Obi was, in fact, the late Alhaji Umar Njidda Pariya.
The photograph was shared on X by Senior Pastor Okezie James, who claimed it showed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar introducing Peter Obi to then-Lagos State Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In his caption, Pastor Okezie wrote: “When Atiku Abubakar took Peter Obi to Bourdillon to meet Asiwaju for the first time. Don’t let them deceive you, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is their father’s father as far as Nigerian politics is concerned.”
Responding to the post, Omokri thanked the pastor for his support of President Tinubu but disputed the identity of the man in the photograph.
“Dear Pastor Okezie (@Onsogbu), thank you for your feedback. We are immensely proud of the great work you do for Nigeria, and I align myself with your view that President Tinubu is the alpha of Nigerian politics in this Fourth Republic,” Omokri wrote.
He, however, maintained that the man shaking hands with Tinubu was not the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
“However, the individual in this photo, whom you identify as Peter Obi, is actually not the NDC presidential candidate. The fellow shaking hands with the then former Governor of Lagos, and now very beloved President of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was a man by the name of Alhaji Umar Njidda Pariya,” he stated.
Omokri explained that he personally knew Pariya during his time in the Office of the Vice President between 2003 and 2005.
According to him, while Pariya did not resemble Obi when viewed from the front, the similarity became more noticeable from certain angles.
“Frontally, he bears no resemblance to Peter Obi. But when he turns sideways, their similitude becomes uncanny,” he said.
He also noted that Pariya died in 2019 and appealed to social media users to avoid misidentifying him out of respect for his family.
“Unfortunately, Mallam Pariya is no more, having passed away in 2019, and his family may find it painful that his image is being confused with that of Peter Obi,” Omokri added.
He described the late Pariya as a loyal colleague and said he was making the clarification out of concern for his memory and the feelings of his family.
The clarification has generated fresh reactions online, with social media users debating the authenticity of the viral image and the identities of those captured in the photograph……See More
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