Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has said he has no evidence to prove that he won the 2023 presidential election, but maintained that he believes he won the contest.
Obi made the statement in a recent interview with BBC Africa while discussing his claim that the election was rigged.
Asked whether he had evidence to prove his claim, Obi said, “There’s no evidence. Everything is not based on evidence.” He, however, maintained, “I won the election and that’s where I will end.”
The former Anambra State governor also defended his continued claims that the 2023 election was rigged despite the dismissal of his legal challenges by the courts.
“I don’t like going back to the past. I sustain what I said,” Obi said.
The Independent National Electoral Commission declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress winner of the election, with Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party in second place and Obi in third.
Obi and Atiku challenged the result at the Presidential Election Petition Court, but their petitions were dismissed. The Supreme Court subsequently upheld Tinubu’s victory.
Obi defends fuel subsidy position
Obi also addressed his position on fuel subsidy, insisting that his stance had not changed despite criticism over his comments 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.
According to him, his position has consistently included concerns about corruption within the subsidy regime.
“I talked about the corruption. The corruption is the problem of the subsidy,” Obi said.
On tackling corruption if elected president, Obi said he would personally take charge of 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 differ because he would personally take charge.
“He wasn’t in charge. The difference is this. I would be in charge,” he said.
2027: Obi rejects stepping-down question
On whether he would step down if opposition parties united behind another presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 election, Obi rejected the premise of the question.
“We don’t need to step down. We need to do the right thing,” he said, adding that the opposition should instead focus on mobilising more voters.