‘No Evidence I Won 2023 Poll’ — Peter Obi

Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has admitted that there is no evidence to support his claim that he won the 2023 presidential election, although he said he still believes he emerged victorious.

Obi made the admission in an interview with the BBC Africa Service while reflecting on the disputed 2023 presidential election and his preparations for the 2027 contest.

When asked to provide evidence for his claim that he won the election, the former Anambra State governor said, “There’s no evidence. Everything is not based on evidence.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the 2023 presidential election, with Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in second place and Obi, who contested under the Labour Party, third.

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Obi and Atiku subsequently challenged the outcome at the Presidential Election Petition Court, but their petitions were dismissed. The Supreme Court later upheld Tinubu’s victory.

Ahead of the 2027 election, Obi also rejected calls for opposition parties to resolve their differences by asking one presidential candidate to withdraw in favour of another.

According to him, the opposition should concentrate on mobilising more Nigerians to participate in the election rather than negotiating withdrawals among candidates.

“In the last elections, Sokoto had over two million registered voters. Opposition should be talking about how do we get additional 25 million people to come in and vote. We don’t need to step down,” he said.

The NDC candidate also addressed the controversy surrounding his position on petrol subsidy, insisting that his position had remained consistent.

Obi said his objection was not necessarily to subsidy itself but to the corruption he alleged had become associated with its administration.

“I have not changed on fuel subsidy. What has changed is that whenever I talk about methodology, people say, ‘Oh, he has changed.’ From day one that I talked about subsidy, I talked about corruption. Corruption is the problem of subsidy,” he said.

Asked whether he would restore the subsidy if elected president, Obi answered in the affirmative, but said it would be accompanied by measures to eliminate corruption in the system.

“Yes, but not with the corruption associated with it. That’s why I said I will remove the corruption and retain the subsidy,” he said.

On corruption generally, Obi said he would fulfil his pledge to fight the practice if elected president, arguing that the battle must begin with the president and his immediate family.

He contrasted his proposed approach with that of former President Muhammadu Buhari, saying Buhari was unable to fulfil his anti-corruption promise because, in his words, “He was not in charge.”

“The difference is this: I will be in charge,” Obi said.

He added that ensuring that the president, his wife and family members were not involved in corrupt practices would significantly reduce corruption in government.

“If you are not stealing, if you are not involved, your wife and family are not involved, you reduce it by 50 percent,” he said.