Peter Obi, candidate for the Labour Party (LP), has promised to show Nigerians that he actually won the presidential election.
On Wednesday, Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was announced as the winner of the presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came in second with 6,984,52 votes, while Obi received 6,101,533 votes and Tinubu received 8,794,726 votes.
Obi announced his intent to pursue all legal means to regain his mandate at a news conference he held on Thursday in Abuja.
The LP nominee for president has called the upcoming 2023 election the “most contentious” in the country’s history.
Obi urged his followers to see the election results as “only the beginning,” rather than the finish.
“This election will go down as one of the most controversial elections ever conducted in Nigeria,” he said.
“The good people of Nigeria have again been robbed. However, I appeal to Nigerians to remain peaceful and law-abiding.
“This is not the end but a beginning… We will explore all legal and peaceful options to reclaim our mandate. We won the election and we will prove it to Nigerians.”
He asked Obidients not to be discouraged, urging them to take part in the governorship elections fixed for March 11.
“We have elections coming on the 11th. We enjoin you to go out and vote,” he said.
Obi said he and Datti Baba-Ahmed, his running mate, are “committed” to the cause of a new Nigeria
“We will work for that new Nigeria that is possible. Datti and I remain committed to that new Nigeria,” he said.
Speaking on the declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the election, Obi said: “It is my belief that for you to answer “you excellency”, the process through which you arrive to office must be excellent.”
Julius Abure, the national chairperson of LP, and Akin Osuntokun, director-general of the presidential campaign, were also present at the briefing.
