The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Gregory Obi, has said that he won Nigeria’s 2023 presidential poll and he would prove it.
He said this on Thursday in Abuja at an ongoing press conference which he called his first reaction to Nigeria’s 2023 presidential poll.
The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Yakubu on Wednesday morning declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as winner of the 2023 presidential poll.
Yakubu, who announced the final result at exactly 3:55 am Wednesday, after three days of collation of results from across the 36 states of the federation and FCT, said Tinubu polled a total 8,794,726 votes.
Tinubu defeated his main rival, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who recorded 6,984,520 votes and Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP) who polled 6,101,533 votes to come second and third respectively.
Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) was fourth with 1,496,687 votes.
However, Obi said the election was a daylight robbery and would use all legitimate means, including the courts, to reclaim the mandate given to him and his running mate, Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed.
He also berated INEC for conducting the worst elections in Nigeria’s history, which he said fall, even below the minimum standards.
He also said he believed in the judiciary to do justice, saying he was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the judiciary having been there severally to reclaim his stolen mandates in the past and won all.
He also said the meeting with the PDP and other parties was not a merger but exchanging ideas on a way forward in the national interest.
While addressing a world press conference in Abuja on Thursday, Obi said the election did not meet the necessary requirements and could not be adjudged credible.
The former Anambra State governor insisted that Nigerians were robbed of their true choice, adding that he would pursue justice through court and was ready to challenge the results till he prove his argument.
“The election that we just witnessed had been conducted and the results announced as programmed. It is a clear deviation from electoral rules and guidelines contrary to what we were promised.
“This election did not meet the minimum standard expected of a free, fair, transparent and credible election. It will go down as one of the most controversial elections ever conducted in Nigeria.
“The good and hardworking people of Nigeria have again been robbed by our supposed leaders whom they trusted,” he said.
“Let me reassure the good people of Nigeria that we will explore all legal and peaceful options to reclaim our mandate. We won the election and I will prove it to Nigerians,” Obi vowed.
The former governor said he believed the process through which people come into any position was important and there was a need for Nigeria to sanitise the process.
Obi said, “the process through which people come into the office is far more fundamental, more important than what they do (in office) thereafter.
“It is my belief that if you must answer your excellency, the process through which you arrive at to office must be excellent.
“We must now require that we do the right thing in order to generate the right confidence and moral authority to lead. As you know, the structure of society begins and gradually retrogresses when we act rascally and deliberately in the manipulation of rule of law and suppression of the will of the people.
He said he had challenged several election results and come out victorious and he would be approaching the court with the firm belief of getting justice.
“On this issue (presidential election) I am challenging the process. I will challenge this rascality for the future of the country.
“The court exists for this and they have asked me to go to court and I will be going to court,” the former governor said.
Quipped on if he is under pressure, he said no one can put him under pressure for challenging the rascality.
He said, “Please, be assured that this is not the end but the beginning of a journey for the birth of a new Nigeria.
“Datti and I remain absolutely undaunted and deeply committed to the project of a new Nigeria that will be built on honesty, transparency, fairness, justice, and equity. All the above starts with the process.”
He added, “We have to go through this darkness. The structure of criminality can’t go out overnight.
“All we need to show is commitment and resilience. I will be at the forefront and will work through this darkness until daybreak,” Obi vowed.