The Presidency has strongly rejected Peter Obi’s latest comments about the 2023 presidential election after the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate told the BBC that he has no evidence to prove he won the election but still maintains that he did.
Key Highlights
- Presidency attacks Peter Obi over his latest claim that he won the 2023 presidential election.
- Obi told the BBC he has no evidence proving he won but said he still believes he did.
- Presidential aide Temitope Ajayi described Obi’s position as an “unfathomable delusion.”
- INEC declared Bola Tinubu winner of the 2023 presidential election with 8,794,726 votes.
- Obi finished third with 6,101,533 votes, according to the official results.
- The courts dismissed the challenges to the result, and the Supreme Court upheld Tinubu’s victory.
Presidency Reacts to Peter Obi’s 2023 Election Claim
Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, criticised Obi in a post on X on Thursday, describing his continued claim of victory as an “unfathomable delusion.”
Ajayi questioned how Obi could continue to insist that he won the election years after the vote while acknowledging that he cannot produce evidence to support the claim.
“The unfathomable delusion that makes a man who came 3rd in an election to keep insisting he won almost 4 years after certainly can’t be explained,” Ajayi wrote.
He added that Obi had now acknowledged that he had no evidence to prove his claim while still maintaining that he won the election.
Peter Obi: ‘There’s No Evidence I Won It’
Obi made the controversial remarks during a BBC Africa interview while discussing his long-standing position that the February 2023 presidential election was rigged against him.
When asked whether he had evidence to prove that he won the election, Obi responded:
“There’s no evidence I won it. Everything is not based on evidence. I won the election and that’s where I will end.”
The former Labour Party presidential candidate added that he did not want to return to the past but maintained that he had not changed his position.
What the 2023 Presidential Election Results Showed
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the February 25, 2023 presidential election.
According to the official results:
- Bola Tinubu (APC): 8,794,726 votes
- Atiku Abubakar (PDP): 6,984,520 votes
- Peter Obi (Labour Party): 6,101,533 votes
Atiku and Obi separately challenged the election result.
The Presidential Election Petition Court dismissed the petitions on September 6, 2023, while the Supreme Court subsequently upheld Tinubu’s victory.
Read also:
- Peter Obi Admits He Has No Evidence He Won 2023 Election, Still Insists: ‘I Won’
- Presidency Dares Obi To Quit 2027 Race Over Anambra Debt Claims
- Reactions Trail Removal of Peter Obi, Kwankwaso Billboard in Edo as NDC Alleges Political Targeting
Presidency Has Previously Responded to Obi
The latest exchange is not the first time the Presidency has responded to Obi’s continued assertion that he was denied victory in 2023.
In July, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, criticised Obi following another interview in which the former Labour Party candidate repeated his claim that he had been rigged out of the election.
Onanuga told Obi to stop “dreaming of a victory that you never had” and argued that the court proceedings had already settled the dispute over the election result.
Peter Obi Now Eyes 2027 Presidential Election
Obi is now the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 election, with Rabiu Kwankwaso as his running mate.
His latest BBC interview has therefore revived debate over the 2023 presidential election as the country moves towards another general election.
While Obi maintains that he won the 2023 election despite saying he has no evidence to prove it, the Presidency continues to point to the official INEC results and the Supreme Court judgment upholding Tinubu’s victory.
The renewed exchange is likely to keep the 2023 election result in the political spotlight as the 2027 presidential contest gathers momentum.
For more political updates, follow us on X.
