Nigeria: Peter Obi rejects election results, vows to challenge process in court

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi , has vowed to challenge the outcome of Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election in court . 

Addressing the media in Abuja, on Thursday, Mr Obi, who was flanked by the National Chairman of the LP, Julius Abure, and the Director General of his campaign, Akin Osuntokun, claimed that Nigerians were robbed in the 2023 general elections.

According to Mr. Obi, the will of the people had been suppressed. He vowed to explore all legal and peaceful options to reclaim his mandate.

“We will explore all legal and peaceful options to reclaim our mandate. We won the election and we will prove it to Nigerians. We were asked to go to the court. Is that not what they said? So let’s go there,” He stated. 

Meanwhile, Mr.Obi has asked his supporters to remain calm and peaceful, urging them to go out and vote in the forthcoming gubernatorial and state assembly elections.

The 2023 presidential election was won by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, having polled the majority votes of 8,794,726.

PDP’s Atiku Abubakar polled 6,984,520, with Mr Obi placing third with 6,101,533 votes, the INEC Chairman declared. 

Altogether, 18 candidates contested the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria.

#NigeriaDecides2023: Bola Tinubu declared winner of Nigeria’s presidential election

 

The presidential candidate of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has been declared the winner of Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election.

Mr. Tinubu, a former two-term governor of Lagos State, garnered 36% of the total votes cast as against his main rivals Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi who polled 29% and 25 % respectively.

In what has been described as the most disputed presidential election in Nigeria’s political history, Mr. Tinubu won most of the states in his home region of the south-west, where he is known as a "political godfather."

He was nevertheless defeated in his home state, Lagos, by Mr. Obi, a relative newcomer who mobilised the support of many young people, especially in urban areas, shaking up the country’s two-party system.

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Tinubu called for reconciliation with his opponents.

"I take this opportunity to appeal to my fellow contestants to let us team up together. It is the only nation we have. It is one country and we must build it together," he said in a televised speech to the nation.

According to him, although his opponents have the right to challenge the results in court, the lapses in the election “were relatively few in number and were immaterial to affect the outcome of this election".

President Muhammadu Buhari is stepping down after two terms in office, marked by economic stagnation and growing insecurity around the country – from an Islamist insurgency in the north-east to a nationwide crisis of kidnapping for ransom and separatist attacks in the south-east.

Mr. Tinubu now has the task of solving these problems, among others, in Africa’s most populous nation and biggest oil exporter.

Mr. Tinubu fought for democracy under Nigeria’s military regimes, escaped into exile and became one of the founding members of the country’s democracy in 1999.

 

AEP

Get the latest news and updates on elections in Africa by following us on twitter and Facebook @africanelection.

#NigeriaDecides2023: Lack of transparency and operational failures undermining the credibility of Nigeria’s election - EU election observer mission

 

Photo credit: EUinNigeria/Twitter

A preliminary statement of the EU election observation mission (EU EOM) in Nigeria has cited lack of transparency and operational failures as part of factors undermining the credibility of the February 2023 general elections held in Nigeria.

In a statement issued on Monday, 27^th February 2023, the EU election observer mission noted that inadequate preparation by the Independent Electoral marred the election process.

“On 25 February, Nigerians went to the polls in highly anticipated presidential and National Assembly elections that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) kept on schedule despite a volatile and challenging environment. Fundamental freedoms of assembly and movement were largely respected, yet the full enjoyment of the latter was impeded by insufficient planning, insecurity and the prevailing Naira and fuel shortages.” part of the release stated.

Touching on the operational capacity of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the observer mission noted that “INEC’s operational capacity was hampered by the ongoing fuel and Naira shortage. Insecurity prevented it from accessing some Local Government Areas (LGAs), notably in the South. Attacks on INEC premises, including just days before polling, hindered preparations in affected areas, while instilling fear in voters. Overall, stakeholders had expressed confidence in INEC’s independence, professionalism, and voter information efforts, but this decreased ahead of elections. INEC lacked efficient planning and transparency during critical stages of the electoral process, while on election day trust in INEC was seen to further reduce due to delayed polling processes and information gaps related to much anticipated access to results on its Results Viewing Portal (IReV).”

Regarding the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the IReV for the 2023 elections, the observer mission asserts that delayed training of technical personnel, inadequate mock testing exercise, and a lack of public information on the election technologies dampened the expectations electorates had prior to the election day.

Meanwhile, the observer mission has congratulated the media for its extensive coverage of the 2023 general elections.

Read the full report by the European Union election observer mission in Nigeria here: https://bit.ly/3Z99QBW

AEP

Get the latest news and updates on elections in Africa by following us on Facebook and Twitter @africanelection.