Abuja, NIGERIA — The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi, said he has no grudges with the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, regarding his declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as the winner of the 2023 presidential election. But only challenging the process leading to the declaration of Tinubu as the president-elect.
He said: “I have no issues with Tinubu. He is somebody I have so much respect for as a brother and regard as a father.
“I am only challenging the process through which INEC declared him as the President-elect. I have no issues with his declaration as the President-elect.”
Speaking in a chat with Arise TV on Monday, Obi said he is not interested in challenging the “outcome” of the election.
He said INEC, as a public institution, should always submit itself to scrutiny from Nigerians.
“INEC is a public institution and it should be open. Because if you do something and people are not satisfied then you should be able to open up yourself,” Obi said.
“INEC has conducted an election and announced the winner but I am only asking that I have access to the materials that were used to arrive at the result. I am not asking you to change what you said
“I’m not challenging their declaration. Or rather, I am not challenging who they declared. I am not challenging whatever the outcome is. I’m challenging the process by which they arrived at their declaration.
“And unless we do that, we are not going to stop the rascality we witnessed in that election. The process through which people come into the office is far more fundamental than what they do thereafter.
“There is a process of doing things, of arriving at every destination. A process is important.”
Obi appealed the electoral body to rise up to the responsibility of helping Nigeria build a viable global image.
“We are committed to a new Nigeria. We must do everything that is right.
“We need to build strong democratic institutions that will teach people what their job requires and what government is all about,” he said.
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