The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, has faulted the conduct of the 2023 general elections, citing irregularities in the just concluded exercise.
Following the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)‘s announcement of the results on Wednesday, Obi, 61, was defeated by Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of the ruling party by almost two million votes.
Tinubu won the hotly contested election with a total of 8,794,726 votes, beating out Obi in third place with 6,101,533.
On Thursday in Abuja, Obi spoke at a press conference: “Have we really spent billions on this? Instead of announcing what we announced, we ought to have done something else with those billions.”
The former governor of Anambra insisted that he had won the presidential election on February 25 and would use every legal strategy to reclaim the office.
The LP presidential candidate claims that last Saturday’s election fell short of the requirements for a free and fair process.
He continued, telling his supporters to remain composed and that their support would not go in vain.
Obi stated that he and his team are dedicated to improving Nigeria and expressed hope that the legal system will assist him in reclaiming the mandate that was wrongfully taken from him.
He described the outcome of the presidential poll as unfair, vowing to challenge the result in court.
“We will look into every peaceful and legal option to reclaim our mandate. We will demonstrate to Nigerians that we won the election.
When Obi appeared before the media for the first time following the election umpire’s declaration of a winner, he said, “I am challenging the process,” in front of a room full of journalists in the capital of Nigeria.
“This is very unfair. It is the least expected of Nigeria,” he added.
Obi observed a minute of silence for each person hurt or killed during the February 25 election right at the start of the briefing.
Julius Abure, the party’s National Chairman, and Akin Osuntokun, the director general of Obi’s presidential campaign, are also present at the briefing.
He also said he and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, remain committed to a new Nigeria.