Nigerian election results to be challenged by Peter Obi

Post Date: March 5, 2023

In the aftermath of official results awarding Bola Tinubu victory, a political outsider declares he will prove he won

After official results awarded Bola Tinubu victory in Nigeria’s fiercely contested presidential elections, Peter Obi said he would challenge his victory.

To reclaim our mandate, we will investigate all legal and peaceful options. On Thursday in Abuja, Labour Party candidate Obi told reporters that he had won the election and would prove it to Nigerians.

President Muhammadu Buhari will leave office in May after serving two terms. Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos, is expected to succeed him. He will face enormous economic and security challenges in Africa’s most populous country.

Nearly 25 million voters cast ballots on Saturday in largely peaceful elections marred by long delays and the slow arrival of results online, infuriating voters and opposition parties who claim massive vote rigging.

According to results announced on Wednesday, Obi, 61, received 6.1 million votes, the third-highest votes for an outsider in a country dominated by two establishment parties.

Atiku Abubakar, 76, of the People’s Democratic Party, received over 6.9 million votes and has yet to comment on the results of his sixth presidential bid.

Despite receiving votes from two-thirds of Nigeria’s states, Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress candidate, came out on top with 8.8 million votes.

Technical difficulties contributed to delays, discouraging some voters from voting. With 93.4 million registered voters, the INEC reported a slightly higher than 27% turnout, lower than the previous year’s turnout.

The government has struggled to address these issues due to high inflation, a faltering economy, and high unemployment. Nigeria imports most of its fuel due to a need for refining capacity. It spends billions of dollars each year subsidising petrol – an unsustainable cost that Tinubu has vowed to eliminate.

The country is facing security threats due to an Islamist insurgency, bandit militias, and separatist tensions.