Sir Peter Obi
Sir Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party (LP), has declared that he won the 2023 presidential election, and will prove it to Nigerians.
The former Anambra State governor, stressed that he was robbed of his mandate which he could only retrieve in a court of law.
Obi said this during his first media briefing since after Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.
Said he: “We’ll explore all legal options to retrieve our mandate. We won the election. I’m fully committed to a better future for the country and nothing can stop that.
“For the election on Saturday go out there and vote. I’ll be part of it, I assure you”.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Wednesday, declared Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the presidential poll.
Tinubu, INEC said, secured 8,794,726 votes while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had the second-highest figure with 6,984,52 and Obi polled 6,101,533 votes.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday in Abuja, Obi said he would explore all legal avenues to recover his mandate.
The LP standard bearer said the 2023 presidential election is arguably the “most controversial” in the country’s history, just as he encouraged his supporters not to view the outcome of the election as the end, “but a beginning”.
Said Obi: “This election will go down as one of the most controversial elections ever conducted in Nigeria.
“The good people of Nigeria have again been robbed. However, I appeal to Nigerians to remain peaceful and law-abiding.
“This is not the end but a beginning… We will explore all legal and peaceful options to reclaim our mandate. We won the election and we will prove it to Nigerians”.
He asked Obi-Dients not to be discouraged, urging them to take part in the governorship elections fixed for March 11.
Added he: “We have elections coming on the 11th. We enjoin you to go out and vote”.
Obi said he and Datti Baba-Ahmed, his running mate, were “committed” to the cause of a new Nigeria.
Maintained he: “We will work for that new Nigeria that is possible. Datti and I remain committed to that new Nigeria”.
Said Obi as he spoke on the declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the election: “It is my belief that for you to answer ‘your excellency’, the process through which you arrive to office must be excellent”.
Julius Abure, the national chairperson of LP, and Akin Osuntokun, director-general of the presidential campaign, were also present at the briefing.
