The Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on Thursday disclosed that the 2023 presidential election was controversial and programmed to deliver pre-determined results.
He said the election did not meet the necessary requirements and could not be adjudged credible.
The former Anambra State governor who addressed a world press conference in Abuja said that Nigerians were robbed of their true choice.
He insisted that he would pursue justice through court and was ready to challenge the results till he prove his argument.
“Labour Party won the election and I will prove it,” Obi vowed.
He added, “I will challenge this rascality for the future of the country”.
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.
“On this issue (presidential election) I am challenging the process,” Obi said.
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.
“The court exists for this and they have asked me to go to court and I will be going to court,” the former governor added.
Quipped on if he is under pressure, he said no one can put him under pressure for challenging the rascality.
“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.
The Independent National Electoral Commission after stressing Nigerians declared the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, as the president-elect.
Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, was declared the president-elect after the 70-year-old polled 8,794,726 votes to win the 2023 presidential election, according to INEC.
The INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, announced Tinubu as the winner at the International Collation Centre in Abuja during the early hours of Wednesday.
It is the first time Obi will speak to the public or address a press conference after losing the 2023 presidential election.
Obi said, “We will explore all the legal and peaceful means to reclaim our mandate. We won the election. Datti and I are committed to the mandate of Nigerians.”
When asked to present evidences on how the election was manipulated, Obi simply said he doesn’t want to answer questions on his way to the court.
Recall that the Labour Party had earlier faulted the process of collating the result of last Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly Elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), saying it will challenge the outcome in court.
LP alleged that most of its members were deliberately disenfranchised through varied means across the country, but were more discerning in its strongholds.
The party in a statement on Sunday issued by the National of Secretary, Alhaji Umar Farouk Ibrahim said while the party made inroads with high votes in most parts of Northern Nigeria, LP members were deliberately prevented from voting, chased away violently from polling units, or had ballot papers and boxes destroyed and burnt in others.
He cited Lagos, Rivers, Bayelsa, Kano, Yobe and Edo states among places where such acts were rampantly perpetrated in violation of the electoral act 2022 as amended.
Umar said in some places, INEC staff and electoral materials were not deployed to areas that are known to be strongholds of Labour Party, or deployed late to frustrate the party supporters who, psychologically got tired of waiting and had to leave the polling units for the fear of the unknown.
“The delay by INEC to upload and announce results, especially where Labour Party, is already known to have taken lead, is also worrisome and we feel it is deliberate to anger our party and our supporters” he said.
Umar also alleged that intelligence from the fields revealed that across the Northern states, electorates identified as Labour Party supporters were tactically denied access to their polling units by some officials who connived with others to confuse the electorates by insisting their polling units are different and sending them to the wrongs ones. He said this frustrated the electorates, and reduced the votes polled by Labour Party, which would have more than doubled if the right things were done.
LP called on INEC to checkmate and call its polling staff to order and also ensure punitive measures in line with the electoral Act 2022 as amended.
The Labour Party National Secretary assured that the party would definitely challenge the outcome and final result in court.
He however called on the party members and supporters to be calm, remain law abiding, but be encouraged with their efforts so far, and mobilise even more for the next round of elections, as the party takes steps to right the wrong meted out to her in the Saturday presidential and National Assembly Elections.
