Atiku and Obi refuse to accept defeat and take legal actio

Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) respectively, have refused to concede defeat in the February 25 presidential election.

They vow to recover their mandate in court.

President-elect, Bola Tinubu, had asked them to support him in the task of building the nation. However, Atiku and Obi rebuffed the gesture of conciliation made by Tinubu and spoke at separate news conferences in Abuja on Thursday.

Obi insisted that he won the election and he was ready to prove it. He noted that the election in which Tinubu was declared victorious was controversial and programmed to deliver pre-determined results. He pointed out that the election did not meet the requirements and could not be deemed credible. Obi vowed to pursue and recover his mandate, saying, “We won the election and I will prove it to Nigerians.’’

“The process through which people come into the office is far more fundamental, more important than what they do (in office) thereafter. I believe that if you must answer ‘Your Excellency,’ the process through which you arrive at the office must be excellent,” Obi said.

On the other hand, the Director of Media and Publicity for the APC presidential campaign council, Bayo Onanuga, said the president-elect was ready to engage the LP standard bearer if he had concrete evidence to prove he won the election.

“We welcome the decision of Obi to seek redress in court as an aggrieved party if he is convinced of the evidence of electoral frauds he will present before the tribunal as alleged,” Onanuga said.

He also noted that the 2023 election was one of the most transparent and peaceful elections in the history of the country. The former Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria disclosed that Obi’s victory in some regions attested to the credibility of the electoral process.

“We want to state again for the umpteenth time that Obi didn’t win the presidential election and could not have won under any circumstances. Obi anchored his presidential campaign on the failed strategy of ethnicity and religion, the divisive and dangerous politics that has hobbled the progress of our country for decades,” Onanuga added.

The court will now be the final arbiter in determining the outcome of the election. Nigerians will have to wait to see who emerges victorious.