I won 2023 presidential election — but there’s no evidence, says Obi
Peter Obi, standard-bearer of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has reiterated his claim that he won the 2023 presidential election but says he has no evidence to substantiate the assertion.
Obi spoke in an interview with the BBC, where he was asked if he still maintained his position that he won the 2023 presidential election after the courts dismissed his challenge to the results.
The former Anambra governor contested the 2023 presidential election on the Labour Party (LP) platform and came third with 6,101,533 votes.
President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) secured 8,794,726 votes and was declared the winner, while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had the second-highest figure of 6,984,520.
Less than a week after the election, Obi said he won and that he would prove it in court.
Obi challenged the results at the presidential election petition tribunal, alleging widespread irregularities.
In September 2023, the tribunal dismissed his petition, holding that he failed to establish the allegations of electoral malpractice and other grounds on which he sought to overturn the results.
The supreme court subsequently upheld Tinubu’s victory in October 2023, dismissing the appeals filed by Obi and Atiku.
‘EVERYTHING IS NOT BASED ON EVIDENCE’
Asked during the interview whether he still believed he won the election, Obi said he stood by his earlier claim.
“Well, quite frankly, I don’t like going back to the past. I still say what I said,” he said.
When pressed on whether he had evidence to prove that he won the election, Obi responded: “There is no evidence. Everything is not based on evidence. I won the election, and that is where I will end”.
