Peter Obi: ‘I Have No Evidence I Won 2023 Presidential Election’

Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has admitted that he has no evidence to prove that he won the 2023 presidential election, while insisting that he still believes he emerged victorious.

Obi made the disclosure in a recent interview with BBC Africa while discussing his long-standing claim that the election was rigged.

Asked if he had evidence to support his claim that he won the election, Obi initially responded, “There’s no evidence. Everything is not based on evidence.”

He, however, immediately reaffirmed his position, saying, “I won the election and that’s where I will end.”

The former Anambra State governor was also asked why he continued to maintain that the election was rigged despite the courts dismissing his legal challenges.

“I don’t like going back to the past. I sustain what I said,” Obi said.

Advertisement

The 2023 presidential election was won by Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party came second and Obi placed third, according to results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

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

Obi also defended his position on fuel subsidy, dismissing claims that he had changed his stance on the issue.

“I’ve not changed. What has changed is that whenever I talk about methodology, people say, oh, it has changed,” he said.

He maintained that his position had always included concerns about corruption within the subsidy system.

“I talked about the corruption. The corruption is the problem of the subsidy,” Obi said.

Advertisement

On how he would tackle corruption if elected president, Obi said he would personally lead the fight.

“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.

Asked about corruption under former President Muhammadu Buhari, Obi said his approach would be different because he would personally take charge.

“He wasn’t in charge. The difference is this. I would be in charge,” he said.

Obi also rejected the suggestion that he could step down if opposition parties agreed to support another candidate ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Rather than discussing who should step aside, he said opposition parties should focus on mobilising more voters.

Advertisement

“We don’t need to step down. We need to do the right thing,” Obi said.