Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s nominee for president, responded to the announcement that Bola Tinubu, the candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC), had won the February 25 presidential election.
Remember that the Former Governor of Lagos State was proclaimed the victor of the hotly contested position by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after garnering a greater voter turnout than his rivals from other political parties.
Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) finished second behind Tinubu in the results that State Collation Officers reported to INEC, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) finished third.
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the presidential candidate for the New Nigeria Peoples’ Party (NNPP), finished considerably behind the top three competitors for the country’s top political position.
After Tinubu’s announcement, the party’s vice presidential candidate, Baba-Ahmed, spoke on behalf of Obi and claimed that the Labour Party had won the presidential election and will regain its mandate in due time at a news conference.
He stated that there was no election because the results could not be electronically sent.
His words: “It’s our position that the results of the purported election did not meet the minimum standard of elections-Datti Baba-Ahmed, Labour Party Vice Presidential Candidate
“We will continue the struggle and we urge Nigerians to continue to struggle for their rights.
“Irrespective of the low level of confidence that we have in the system, we appeal to Nigerians to move out and vote for the Labour Party in the forthcoming governorship and state assembly elections.
“The Electoral Act 2022 provides that election result shall be electronically transmitted, this was not done it means the election did not hold.”
“We ask Nigerians to continue to exercise their civic duties like they did in the last exercise.
“We won this election, they refused to upload the results on IREV, the Nigerian people are winners, Nigerians are waiting for Peter Obi and I to get the power.
“We won the election as Labour Party, we are going to claim our mandate as Labour Party, we are going to rescue Nigeria as Labour Party.“