Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on Thursday, insisted that he won last Saturday’s presidential election, saying he has proofs for his claim.
Obi declared the presidential election won by the All Progressives Congress candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as controversial and programmed to produce pre-determined results.
In the early hours of Wednesday, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Tinubu as the winner of the election and the president-elect.
The former Lagos State governor had polled 8,794,726 votes to win the 2023 presidential election.
INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, announced Tinubu as the winner at the International Collation Centre in Abuja.
But Obi, who addressed a world press conference in Abuja on Thursday, said the presidential election did not meet the necessary requirements and could not be adjudged credible.
He insisted that Nigerians were robbed of their true choice, stressing that he would pursue justice in court and would challenge the results till he proves his claim.
“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.
Obi said, “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.”
The former Anambra governor said it’s imperative Nigeria sanitises the process through which people are elected into public offices.
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.”
The LP presidential flagbearer recalled that he had challenged several election results and come out victorious, adding that he would be approaching the court with the firm belief of getting justice.
He said, “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.”
Asked if he is under pressure, Obi 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.
“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.”
