Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s former Minister of Information, has stated that Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, could not have won the election regardless of his vote tally, directly challenging narratives suggesting Obi was unfairly denied victory.
Mohammed made the remarks during an appearance on the State Affairs podcast, where he recounted efforts by his ministry to counter international perceptions following the election. He argued that the constitutional requirements for presidential victory were never met by Obi, and that the “rigging” narrative was a misconception fueled by social media presence.
“Even if Peter Obi had polled 10 million votes, he could not have become president,” Mohammed said. He explained that Nigeria’s Constitution mandates a candidate must secure both the highest number of votes and at least one-quarter of the votes in two-thirds of the 36 states. According to the official results, Obi placed third behind Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Mohammed provided the state-level breakdown, noting Obi met the 25% threshold in 15 states, Atiku in 21 states, and Tinubu in 29 states.
The minister asserted that the Labour Party’s strong online visibility created a false impression of an electoral upset. “If you go to social media in 2023, you would feel it won the election; they were everywhere,” he said. To correct this, Mohammed and his team engaged with think tanks and international media in the US and UK to brief them on the electoral mathematics and why Obi’s candidacy did not meet the constitutional mark.
Mohammed further suggested that Obi’s independent run split the opposition vote, indirectly aiding the APC’s victory. He claimed Obi “was not the biggest headache” for the ruling party and posited that had Obi remained within the PDP, the opposition might have won. “If he had stayed with Atiku, PDP would have won,” he stated.
The comments revisit a contentious period after the 2023 election, where Obi’s supporters alleged irregularities and pursued legal challenges. Mohammed’s statements provide a detailed official rebuttal to those claims from the perspective of the previous administration’s information chief, emphasizing the legal and numerical bars to Obi’s victory rather than any administrative interference.
