Special to USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com, first Africa-owned, US-based newspaper published on the Internet
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party of Nigeria, has indicated his determination to go to Court over the handling of the election of February 25 is to show that “The good and hardworking people of Nigeria have again been robbed by our supposed leaders, who we trusted…. I assure you the good people of Nigeria that we would explore all legal and peaceful options to regain our mandate. We won the election and I will prove it to Nigerians. For those who believe that a new Nigeria is possible, I want to say to them that a new Nigeria is possible and I will work for that new Nigeria to be possible. Your resilience, your hard work for a new Nigeria will not be in vain. Datti and I remain committed to that new Nigeria.“
He commended the dedication of many Nigerians to the interests of democracy, despite the violent attacks against some of them, including his supporters. “The commitment of Nigerians in the face of unwarranted attacks is a testimony that a new Nigeria is really possible. I look at people like Lady Jennifer, who was stabbed but insisted that she must vote and that gives me courage to believe that a new Nigeria is possible.”
At the press conference held at Transcorp Hotel, Abuja, he also made an “appeal to all Nigerians to remain peaceful and be law-abiding and conduct themselves in the most responsible manner. Please, be assure that Datti and I, and indeed all of us that this is not the end but the beginning of journey to the birth of a better Nigeria.
The process through which you go into office is far more fundamental.”
He stated that “This election, as you know, did not meet the minimum standard which was expected to be free, fair and credible. It is now the most controversial elections ever conducted in Nigeria. In 2015, the number of registered voters was about 67 million and 29.4 million voted. In 2019, the figures increased to about 84 million and about 28.4 million voted. And then we were told that about 11 million registered in 2022, which brought the registration to about 95 million and 87 collected their PVCs but only 23.3 million voted. You can see how Nigeria works. We had increase of 11 million but the voters dropped by over 20%. The reason was due to manipulation and deduction of votes. The number was supposed to increase but it didn’t increase because people were busy doing what is wrong. I will challenge this rascality for the future of the country.“