Obi says he defeated Tinubu and will go to court

The candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, says he will challenge the outcome of Saturday’s presidential poll in court, after rejecting the electoral commission’s declaration of the ruling APC candidate Bola Tinubu as president-elect.

Mr Obi said he won the keenly fought election and will do everything to prove he had the mandate.

“I am challenging a process that is wrong. It could be anybody,” Mr Obi said Thursday at a press conference at Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.

According to official results released by The Independent National Electoral Commission, Mr Tinubu scored 37% of the vote, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party polled 29%, while Mr Obi got 25%.

The two opposition parties, supported by some smaller ones, have called for the cancellation of the vote saying it was marred by vote theft, violence and voter suppression.

By Thursday noon, more than 14% of results from polling centres had still not been updated on Inec’s website, contrary to guidelines demanding they be transmitted electronically to avoid manipulation of results.

Opposition parties say the failure to send them allowed results to be tampered with. Many voters have provided evidence of irregularities during voting and inaccuracies with the results.

The electoral body said all complaints should be taken to court, a call backed by President Muhammadu Buhari who has congratulated Mr Tinubu.

– Challenging the process

“Don’t forget I am an Obidient, they said I should go to court. I will obey and go to court. It is for the future of this country,” Mr Obi said using a name his supporters identify themselves with.

He said he had not called Mr Tinubu to congratulate him, neither had he called Mr Abubakar. He however said he would meet with them if invited.

“The people we are dealing with have made up their mind that we won’t succeed, but we have also made up our mind we will succeed,” he said.

Pressed for evidence of wrongdoing, Mr Obi said he was surprised that at a time the number of registered voters increased, the number of actual voters fell in a year that evidently witnessed high turnout.

“If you must answer his excellency, the process by which you arrived at the office must be excellent,” Mr Obi said.