Peter Obi at Editors' Forum
March 16, 2023
Peter Obi has described the 2023 presidential election as the worst in Nigeria’s history and a setback to the democratic process.
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) made the comment when he was featured on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday, saying despite the humungous amount budgeted for the election, the exercise did not yield the expectations.
“We have seen probably what I consider the worst election in our recent history because of the Electoral law [Act] of 2022 which gave so much hope and the huge expenditure we put into technology,” the former Anambra State governor said.
“Do you know what it means to spend over $1bn? So, there was so much that was promised and then we went back to what it used to be. For me, that is very devastating.”
Obi, who berated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over its failure to transmit results of the presidential election in real-time via its portal, said the conduct of the 2023 exercise has downgraded the country.
“Everybody paid so much emphasis on the law and the technology,” he maintained, describing the failures of the exercise as “when you promise so much and don’t even meet the minimum”.
“Whenever there is an election announced globally, what it does is that it uplifts the ratings of that society,” Obi said during the show.
The LP candidate, who has challenged the declaration of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the exercise, is, however optimistic about getting justice.
“I am not hurt or saddened personally but I am for my country and the future it portends for the young ones and the future generation because we can’t go on this way,” he said. “We must build and bequeath them a better future.”
Obi said he is “on course” to getting justice.
