2023: Structures of criminality, poverty must end, Obi rejects election results, heads to court

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi, has slammed the structures within the polity which he said have entrenched criminality and poverty across the country.

Obi made this assertion on Thursday during a press conference, hours after his loss at the presidential elections.

The electoral commission, INEC, on Wednesday, declared Bola Tinubu, the candidate of Nigeria’s ruling party, APC, as the winner of Saturday’s presidential election.

Tinubu defeated 17 other candidates who took part in the election. He scored a total of 8,794,726 votes, the highest of all the candidates, thus meeting the first constitutional requirement to be declared the winner.

INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu, who announced the final results in the early hours of Wednesday in Abuja, said Atiku Abubakar of the PDP came second in the election.

Peter Obi of the Labour Party came third in the election with a total of 6,101,533 votes while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP came fourth with 1,496,687 votes.

In the press conference, Peter Obi vowed to challenge the results at the courts.

“We are going to the court as directed by OBIDIENTS and you will see where and how.

Read also:Peter Obi denies stepping down for PDPs Atiku Abubakar

“I have never shown that I don’t want peace; I believe in a peaceful Nigeria but it has nothing to do with challenging the faulty process.

“I am appealing to the youth and I am committed to going through this journey with them. This structure of criminality and poverty cannot go away overnight and we will fight till the end.

“Also, I am confident the courts will do the right thing.”

Obi further insisted his mandate was stolen and vowed to toe the legal process to reclaim it.

Obi said: “We will explore all legal means to reclaim our mandate. The elections fell short of minimum standard expected of transparent, free and fair election. Our commitment to building a mew Nigeria remains solid. We are committed to building a country the youth and everyone will call a country.

“I have benefited from the judiciary. I have severally challenged wrong process and came out successful. Mine is to go to the court with the right thing. I have been asked to go to the court and I’ll do just that.”

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