The Director of Media and Publicity for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council, Bayo Onanuga, has stated that the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is open to engaging with Labour Party candidate Peter Obi, but only if Obi can provide concrete evidence to support his claim of having won the presidential election held on Saturday. This statement follows a press conference on Thursday, during which Obi asserted that he was robbed of his mandate and indicated his intention to pursue legal action to reclaim it. An emotional Obi expressed to reporters that Tinubu cannot confidently assert victory when the election did not meet the standards of a free and credible process.
In a statement titled “We will meet Mr. Peter Obi in court,” Onanuga described Obi’s allegations of fraud as “very weird,” particularly given that Obi finished third in the election. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that, like any Nigerian, Obi has the right to seek legal redress if he believes he has evidence of electoral fraud to present before the tribunal. Onanuga welcomed Obi’s decision to pursue this legal route, emphasizing that going to court is a legitimate part of the electoral process and a civil approach compared to inciting social unrest among supporters.
Onanuga also felt it necessary to challenge specific claims made by Obi during his press conference. He asserted that the election held on February 25 was indeed free and fair, countering Obi’s statements. He described the 2023 election as one of the most transparent and peaceful in Nigeria’s history. The APC PCC media director pointed out that Obi’s Labour Party received over six million votes, which he attributed to the credibility of the electoral process, contrary to pre-election forecasts. He noted that Obi’s party managed to secure victories in traditionally strongholds of the APC and PDP, such as Lagos, Nasarawa, Plateau, Delta, and Edo States, where sitting governors were contesting.
Onanuga highlighted that the Labour Party’s success in these regions further underscores the legitimacy of the electoral process. He mentioned that many sitting governors who contested for Senate seats lost to lesser-known Labour Party candidates. Furthermore, he remarked that the Labour Party swept all five states in the South East, which were previously controlled by APGA, PDP, or APC. He criticized Obi for suggesting that the election was only credible in areas where his party won, stating that this contradicted his position and exposed him to public ridicule.
As Obi prepares for court, Onanuga warned that he would need to explain how his party garnered over 90% of the votes in the South East while other parties received minimal support. He also pointed out that there were instances of voter suppression, intimidation, and harassment in the South East, particularly against those who supported the APC. Additionally, Onanuga emphasized that Obi would need to substantiate his claims of rigging in over 40,000 polling units, especially in the North West and North East, where his party lacked agents and failed to sign result sheets as required by law. He suggested that the Labour Party might rely on PDP agents to support its claims, given their affiliation.
Finally, Onanuga reiterated that Obi did not win the presidential election and could not have won under any circumstances. He criticized Obi’s campaign strategy, which he described as reliant on ethnicity and religion—factors that have historically hindered Nigeria’s progress. He noted that Obi’s campaign inflamed strong Igbo sentiments and attempted to leverage youth discontent stemming from the #ENDSARS protests in 2020. Onanuga concluded by stating that the lesson from Obi’s defeat is that no politician in Nigeria can win a presidential race by being a sectional or anointed candidate of any religion.
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