Peter Obi Archives

April 11, 2023

INEC tells Tribunal: Tinubu duly elected, Obi’s prayers not grantable

Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), Peter Obi, President-Elect Bola Tinubu, Senator Kashim Shettima

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has asked the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) to dismiss a petition filed by Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, saying the reliefs sought are not grantable.

The commission argued that while Shettima, the vice president-elect, was duly nominated and sponsored to contest the election.

It also said that Tinubu and Shettima were duly declared and returned as elected and issued Certificates of Return having fulfilled the requirements of the constitution to be declared winners and returned.

INEC, the 1st respondent, stated this in its reply filed on Monday night at the PEPC’s Secretariat by its lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, in Abuja.

The commission prayed the court to either “dismiss or strike out the petition for being grossly incompetent, abusive, vague, nebulous, generic, general, non-specific, ambiguous, equivocal, hypothetical and academic.”

Obi, the 1st petitioner, and LP, the 2nd petitioner, had sued INEC, Sen. Bola Tinubu, Sen. Kashim Shettima and All Progressives Congress (APC) as 1st to 4th respondents respectively.

The petitioners are seeking the nullification of the election victory of Tinubu and Shettima in the Feb 25 presidential poll.

Tinubu, who defeated 17 other candidates who took part in the election, scored a total of 8,794,726 votes, the highest of all the candidates.

While former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with 6,984,520 votes in the poll; Obi came third with 6,101,533 votes.

Abubakar and PDP are also challenging the outcome of the poll in a separate petition.

However, in the petition marked: CA/PEPC/03/2023 filed by Obi and LP’s lead counsel, Livy Ozoukwu, they contended that Tinubu “was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election.”

The petitioners claimed there was rigging in 11 states, adding that they would demonstrate this in the declaration of results based on the uploaded results.

They said INEC violated its own regulations when it announced the result despite the fact that at the time of the announcement, the totality of the polling unit results had yet to be fully scanned, uploaded and transmitted electronically as required by the Electoral Act, among others.

In its notice of preliminary objection, INEC argued that the grounds on which the petition was based were defective, having regard to the vague and imprecise averments supporting the said grounds.

It said that the ground of the petitioners bordering on non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and corrupt practices did not disclose a reasonable cause of action for failure to plead specific particulars and figures as to how the alleged non-compliance complained of substantially affected the results of the election.

It said in view of the above argument, “Prayers 3, 5(i) and 5(11) of the petition predicated on the ground of non-compliance in Paragraph 20(11) of the petition are ungrantable.”

It further said that the ground of the petition that Tinubu was not elected by majority of lawful votes cast as contained in Paragraph 20(iii) of the petition was defective for failure to plead the alleged unlawful votes to be deducted and/or lawful votes to be credited to the petitioners.

INEC argued that the petitioners’ prayer to declare that Obi scored majority of lawful votes cast at the election and be declared winner was defective for failure to join necessary parties and for lack of requisite particulars and pleading to support same.

The commission said that though Obi was a candidate at the election, it however disagreed that denies that he has a right to be returned as elected, “not having polled majority of the lawful votes cast at the election and /or secured one quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all states in the federation and the FCT.”

The commission said all political parties intending to sponsor candidates in the election were required to submit lists of their agents and they were expected to observe the election process at their units, sign and collect result sheets on behalf of their political parties at the close of polls.

It argued that some of the political party agents whose names were on the list submitted to it were however absent at their polling units while some others who were present neglected to participate in the election process.

According to INEC, the petitioners (Obi and LP) did not have polling agents in all the polling units across Nigeria as they only submitted a list of 134, 874 polling agents which is 41, 972 short of the 176, 846 polling units across Nigeria.

It disagreed with the petitioners, insisting that they were not represented in many or some of the polling units in the country.

The commission argued that while Shettima, the vice president-elect, was duly nominated and sponsored to contest the election, it also said that Tinubu and Shettima were duly declared and returned as elected and issued Certificates of Return having fulfilled the requirements of the constitution to be declared winners and returned.

April 11, 2023

APC tells tribunal: Peter Obi illegally sponsored by LP as candidate

APC, Labour Party, Peter Obi

The All Progressives Congress (APC), on Monday, prayed the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja to dismiss the petition filed by the Labour Party (LP) and its Presidential Candidate, Mr Peter Obi, against the emergence of Sen. Bola Tinubu as president-elect in the Feb. 25 election.

The APC, the 4th respondent, urged the PEPC to reject the petition in its notice of preliminary objection marked: CA/PEPC/03/2023 and filed at PEPC’s Secretariat, Monday night, by Thomas Ojo, a member of the party’s legal team led by Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, in Abuja.

The party asked the tribunal to dismiss the petition with substantial cost on the grounds that it lacked merit and was frivolous.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Obi, the 1st petitioner, and LP, the 2nd petitioner, had sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tinubu, Sen. Kashim Shettima and APC as 1st to 4th respondents respectively.

The petitioners are seeking the nullification of the election victory of Tinubu and Shettima in the Feb 25 presidential poll.

NAN reports that while former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with 6,984,520 votes in the election; Obi came third with 6,101,533 votes.
Abubakar and PDP are also challenging the outcome of the poll.

The petitioners claimed there was rigging in 11 states, adding that they would demonstrate this in the declaration of results based on the uploaded results.

Obi and LP said INEC violated its own regulations when it announced the result despite the fact that at the time of the announcement, the totality of the polling unit results had yet to be fully scanned, uploaded and transmitted electronically as required by the Electoral Act.

Among other prayers, the petitioners urged the tribunal to “determine that, at the time of the presidential election held on February 25,, 2023, the 2nd and 3rd respondents (Tinubu and Shettima) were not qualified to contest the election.

“That it be determined that all the votes recorded for the 2nd respondent in the election are wasted votes, owing to the non-qualification of the 2nd and 3rd respondents.

“That it be determined that on the basis of the remaining votes (after discountenancing the votes credited to the 2nd respondent) the 1st petitioner (Obi) scored a majority of the lawful votes cast at the election and had not less than 25 per cent of the votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of the states of the federation and the FCT and satisfied the constitutional requirements to be declared the winner of the Feb. 25 presidential election.

“That it be determined that the 2nd respondent (Tinubu), having failed to score one-quarter of the votes cast at the presidential election in the FCT was not entitled to be declared and returned as the winner of the presidential election held on Feb. 25.””

Responding, the APC prayed the court to dismiss the suit on the ground that Obi, the 1st petitioner, lacked requisite locus standi to institute the petition because he was not a member of LP at least 30 days to the party’s presidential primary to be validly sponsored by the party.

It said: “The 1st petitioner (Obi) was a member of PDP until May 24, 2022.

“1st petitioner was screened as a presidential aspirant of the PDP in April 2022.

“1st petitioner participated and was cleared to contest the presidential election while being a member of the PDP.

“1st petitioner purportedly resigned his membership of PDP on May 24, 2022 to purportedly join the 2nd petitioner (Labour Party) on May 27, 2022.

“2nd petitioner conducted its presidential primary on May 30, 2022 which purportedly produced 1st petitioner as its candidate, which time contravened Section 77(3) of the Electoral Act for him to contest the primary election as a member of the 2nd petitioner.”

The party argued that Obi was not a member of LP as at the time of his alleged sponsorship.

The APC argued that “by the mandatory provisions of Section 77 (1) (2) and (3) of the Electoral Act 2022, a political party shall maintain a register and shall make such register available to INEC not later than 30 days before the date fixed for the party primaries, congresses and convention.”

It stated further that all the PDP’s presidential candidates were screened on April 29, 2022, an exercise which Obi participated and cleared to contest while being a member of the party.

It argued that the petition was incompetent since Obi’s name could not have been in LP’s register made available to INEC as at the time he joined the party.

The APC equally argued that the petition was improperly constituted having failed to join Atiku Abubakar and PDP who were necessary parties to be affected by the reliefs sought

“By Paragraph 17 of the petition, the petitioners, on their own, stated that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar came second in the presidential election with 6,984,520 votes as against the petitioners who came third with 6,101,533 votes;

“At Paragraph 102 (iti) of the petition, the petitioners urged the tribunal to determine that 1st petitioner scored the majority of lawful votes without joining Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the petition.
“For the tribunal to grant prayer (iii) of the petitioners, the tribunal must have set aside the scores and election of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,

“Alhaji Atiku Abubakar must be heard before his votes can be discountenanced by the tribunal,” it said.

The party said the petition and the identified paragraphs were in breach of the mandatory provisions of Paragraph 4(1)(D) of the 1st Schedule to the Electoral Act, 2022.

According to APC, Paragraphs 60 — 77 of the petition are non-specific, vague and/or nebulous and thereby incompetent contrary Paragraph 4(1)(d) of the Ist Schedule to the Electoral Act, 2022;
It said that the allegations of non-compliance must be made distinctly and proved on polling unit basis but none was specified or provided in any of the paragraphs of the petition.

“Paragraphs 59-60 of the petition disclose no identity or particulars of scores and polling units supplied in 18,088 units mentioned therein,” it added.

The party, therefore, argued that the tribunal lacked the requisite jurisdiction to entertain pre-election complaints embedded in the petition as presently constituted, among other arguments
The APC urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition with substantial cost as same was devoid of any merit and founded on frivolity.

April 11, 2023

FG challenges Peter Obi on leaked ‘Yes Daddy’ audio

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Peter Obi

The Federal Government has challenged the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, to clarify his position on a leaked audio of the conversation he had with Bishop David Oyedepo, founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide.

Addressing the media on Monday in London, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said Obi should clarify what he meant by saying the leaked conversation was “a fake doctored audio call.”

“I need to draw the attention of Nigerians to the recent leaked audio of conversation between the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, and the cleric.

“The leaked audio rattled Nigerians because we heard Obi pleading with the cleric to interfere on his behalf to convince Christians that this is a religious war and they should support him,” he said.

The minister said that in the aftermath of the leaked audio, Obi came out to say that it was “a fake, doctored audio call.”

The minister said: ” If it is fake, it means it never took place. But if it is doctored, it means there was that conversation but it was manipulated.

“Obi needs to come out and make the clarification on whether the conversation did not take place or it took place, but it was doctored.

“If it was doctored, which part of it was doctored?

“Is it the beginning, the middle or the end or is it the ‘Yes Daddy’ part of it, or where he said it was a religious war?”

Mohammed said the leaked audio had corroborated the position that Obi’s electioneering campaign was based on religion and ethnicity.

He said this was the first time in the history of Nigeria’s elections that a politician would come out openly to campaign on grounds of religion and ethnicity.

“From the outcome of the presidential elections you will see that Obi got his vote mostly from areas where he comes from and his religious leaning.

” This is not good for the politics of Nigeria and it is very dangerous.

“As a result of this kind of campaign, Nigeria is more divided than ever and people are being heard commenting either based on their religious position or ethnic origin.

” Many otherwise respected commentators are not left behind on the effect of this divisive politics,” he said.

Speaking on his mission to London, the minister said it was to defend the legitimacy of the just concluded general elections and to correct the imbalance in the skewed narrative which had pervaded the air on the polls

He said, like what he did recently in Washington, he would let the world know that the 2023 election was the freest in Nigeria’s history.

NAN reports that the minister is scheduled to hold conversations and meetings with international media organisations and relevant think tanks based in London

April 10, 2023

LP was like hurricane: Real reasons Peter Obi lost, Tinubu won

Labour Party, Peter Obi, President-Elect Bola Tinubu

Chairman Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof Itse Sagay has explained why Bola Ahmed Tinubu won the February 25 presidential election and why Atiku Abubakar of PDP and Peter Obi of Labour Party lost.

Sagay, a phone-in guest on Sunday Politics, a Channels Television programme, also discredited numerous opinion polls that tipped Obi ahead of other contenders in the race.

“I was not surprised that Tinubu won. I had no faith in those polls. You just pick up your phones, sought views in urban areas.

“Look, do you know the views in massive northern population? Were they contacted? Nobody contacted them and their views were not taken into consideration. So, it was poorly exercised polls.

“It is a very unfortunate thing that those polls set up the stage that the LP was going to win. I, throughout the exercise of the polls, was just laughing.

“You picked up views of few in the urban centres to represent Nigeria when Nigeria has massive rural population.

“That was why there was such a contradiction between the results of those polls and the eventual result of the election. Those polls were not credible.”

He said: “For those who were very upset about the result because they were expecting to win, they have resorted to the court for objective jurists to look at the issue.

“And even if they fail at that level, they should look up to another four years when there will be general election.

“It is not a one-time exercise; it is something that will be done every four years and what I will suggest and advice those who failed, particularly, the LP is to go to the grassroots and begin to organise. They had no organisation.

“If you look at the performance of the Labour Party during the governorship election, it was an indication that the LP has no root in the country but was clearly a hurricane that just blew through the land at the time.

“So, what I will suggest to them is to begin to put their root on the ground instead of quarrelling, fighting and abusing everybody. They should start planning and organising in Tinubu’s way.

“We have to give to him (Tinubu) that he is a super organiser. This election showed that organisation in which his victory spread across the whole country except the Southeast.

“So, the LP has to begin to plan and organise in preparation for the next election in 2027. But, if they fail to do so, that will be a disaster.”

Dismissing allegation of wide manipulation of the poll, the eminent lawyer said the general election was credible.

He said the president-elect had good organisation and planning in place.

According to him Tinubu’s widespread victory, validated Tinubu’s ability to plan ahead.

He said he was not surprised over the outcome of the election, as the president-elect had super organisation and planning far ahead of others.

These, he added, gave him an edge over others in the race.

Attesting that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) worked so well in the last election, the senior advocate appealed to those that lost out to allow the judiciary to do its job without any threat.

Sagay, who admitted that there were few challenges with the election, said the election was the best in Nigeria in comparison to past elections.

He said: “There could be few challenges, but no evidence of large manipulation of the election as being claimed. The BVAS was used successfully.

“Can you imagine the All Progressives Congress (APC) losing Lagos? I mean that should tell you that the BVAS worked. For that to happen, that tells you that the election was credible.

“It is unheard of for APC to lose Lagos in over 23 years.

In other areas like the Northwest, Atiku won because he comes from that side.

“But what made Tinubu to win was that where he was not number one, he was closely number two. This election is the best Nigeria has ever had.

“Tinubu was number one in the Southwest, number one in the North-central.

“Look at the north’s results, where Tinubu was not number one, he was close number two. So, he was able to marshal votes all over the country except in the Southeast. The others were not able to achieve this feat.”

On the judiciary, Sagay said: “I pray that the Nigerian judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court lives up to expectation because it is the highest court in the land. So, let the judges go into this matter, look at it judicially and judiciously, using all their knowledge and experiences to do the needful.

“Let them not handle the case due to pressure or threat by anybody. I pray the judiciary in the end, takes right decision in this case.”

Adapted from The Nation

April 7, 2023

Dear Chimamanda Adichie, Election is not a literary contest

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Peter Obi

By Kayode Adebiyi

Yesterday, I read an op-ed by Chimamanda Adichie addressed to the President of the United States published by The Atlantic, an influential foreign policy journal in the United States. Unfortunately, Chimamanda in her very beautiful prose and the usual highfalutin language opined that her candidate, Peter Obi who came distant 3rd in the just concluded Nigerian presidential election was rigged out because the Professor Mahmood Yakubu-led Independent National Electoral Commission failed to follow the law guiding the 2023 election as laid out in the Electoral Act signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

In her now trending article, the famous Igbo-centric novelist wrote and I quote:

“A law passed last year, the 2022 Electoral Act, changed everything. It gave legal backing to the electronic accreditation of voters and the electronic transmission of results, in a process determined by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”

The problem with a lot of educated Nigerians with a bit of fame is that they think they know it all and whatever they say or write is golden and everyone must take it hook line and sinker, even when they distort the truth and the reality of what they are writing about.

I will advise Chimamanda to stick to her literary work and stop pontificating on electoral matters in Nigeria, especially when she obviously lacks basic understanding of the letters and spirit of the Electoral Act. As a globally acclaimed writer, it behoves on her to have first gone ahead to read and distill the Electoral Act properly before misleading her American audience. There is no doubt she set out to whip up further emotions amongst her headless OBIdient mob.

The Electoral Act never in any way compels INEC to transmit election result electronically in real time.

The Electoral Act and the Constitution of Nigeria clearly state that INEC alone can determine mode of collating, and transmitting election results. Yes, INEC in many of its pre-election media briefing did say it would transmit result live, but INEC is not compelled by law.

While INEC erred by over-promising, it did no wrong. Neither did the commission flout any law by not doing so. You can only sue an institution for flouting the law. You can’t sue it for not fulfilling a non-binding promise.

Infact, the Electoral Act even gave INEC a window of 7 days after election has been concluded within which the results from the polling units can be transmitted onto election viewing portal.

It is understandable that Chimamanda and many of her ilk, have emotionally invested in Peter Obi’s presidential bid that they refused to pay attention to common sense. They rather hold on to fake news and wishful thinking as facts.

I am convinced that Chimamanda and her OBIdient crowd have this infantile idea that electronic transmission of result is an angelic feature of the Electoral Act. This is far from the truth. Rather it is just an add-on to an already concluded election process.

There must first be an accreditation which this time around every observer hailed as a game changer even by international observer missions.

After accreditation comes the actual voting by the electorate, then counting of results and recording it in form EC8 which each party agents must sign on along with the electoral officer at each polling units. And each agent and law enforcement personnel at each polling unit will have a copy of the already signed form EC8. Now, that is the election!

By this time, all political parties already have the result in their hands through their party agents. What remains is collation of already known results at the ward, LG, State and finally at the National collation centre for the presidential election. Non-transmission of the results political parties already have in their hands, electronically, in real time does not invalidate the actual election that took place.

To buttress this point, as recent as March 10, 2023, a Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that it is only the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that is empowered by law to determine the mode of collating and transmission of election results.

In his ruling, Justice Emeka Nwite also held that it is only INEC that has the prerogative to direct how Polling Unit Presiding Officer should transfer election results, including the total number of accredited voters and results of the ballot.

Justice Nwite further held that the collating and transferring election results manually in the 2023 general elections cannot be said to be contrary to the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.

The judgment was on a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1454/2022 filed by the Labour Party (LP), with INEC as the sole defendant. LP had prayed the court to declare that INEC has no power to opt for manual method other than the electronic method provided for by the relevant provisions the Electoral Act, 2022.

In the the delivered judgement, Justice Nwite held that the plaintiff misconstrued the provisions of the law and proceeded to dismiss the suit.

He said: “From the argument of the learned plaintiff’s counsel, I am of the humble opinion that the bone of contention or the sections that seeks for interpretations are actually sections 50(2) 60(5) and 62(2) of the Electoral Act, 2922. Section 47(2) as cited by the learned counsel to the plaintiff only deals with accreditation of voters using a Smart Card Reader, but not collation or transmission of result as postulated by the learned counsel,” the judge held.

It is pertinent to note that the presiding Judge is not a Yoruba or Hausa/Fulani man. Nobody can accuse him of doing the bidding of Tinubu or Buhari as usual or that he has been bought.

So, again to Chimamanda, stop writing beer parlour gossips as fact and presenting a highly unresearched article in an op-ed to the President of the United States. Americans are no fools, they don’t act on emotions like you, but on facts.

-Adebiyi is a UK-based Public Relations professional and Public Affairs Analyst

April 6, 2023

Why Tinubu won the election and Peter Obi lost– American Observer

Johnnie Carson, Peter Obi, President-Elect Bola Tinubu

An American Diplomat, Mr Johnnie Carson, who observed the 2023 general elections has identified three factors responsible for the victory of President-elect Bola Tinubu and the loss of Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi.

Carson, an Executive Officer of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) spoke in Washington DC when the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed paid an official visit to the institute to engage on the concluded elections.

The diplomat said he co-led National Democratic Institute (NDI) and International Republican Institute (IRI), International Election Observation Mission to Nigeria during the elections.

According to him, Tinubu, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, undoubtedly won the polls and will be sworn-in come May 29, except something happens dramatically with the court.

“Do you know why he won, he got the money, he had the best national organisation that worked for him and the ground game,’’ he said.

Carson emphasised that for a candidate to win an election in Nigeria, like a lot of democracy in the globe, the three things, including substantial and significant financial resources were needed.

Others, according to him, are a national working organisation and a grass-root acceptance.

He said while Tinubu had all the three criteria in his kitty during the polls, the other major contenders did not have all.

Speaking specifically on the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Carson said, “on the part of Mr Peter Obi, he did not have the ground game and a national organisation.

“Obi is, however, very popular, particularly among the young, educated, urban and sophisticated,’’ he said.

Carson said that the presidential election was one of the most competitive polls in Nigeria and in Africa.

He, however, observed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) needed to up its game.

“Nigeria deserves the very best electoral process.

“To me, the problem is not with Tinubu and the other candidates,’’ he said.

Carson hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment in delivering a free and fair election for Nigeria.

He said the president “is a man of outstanding integrity’’ and he demonstrated the attribute in the past elections.

On his part, the minister said considering where INEC was coming from and where it were today, there were massive improvements in the conduct of the 2023 polls.

Conceding that there was room for improvements, the minister said the introduction of a new technology Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) by INEC underpinned the credibility of the elections.

According to him, BVAS cut out fraudulent votes, ghost voters and multiple votes.

Mohammed said the election was conducted against the backdrop of fuel shortage, mounting insecurity and poorly timed cash swap policy.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the minister also had engagements with the Council on Foreign Relations, a well versed think-tank on African affairs and foreign relations chaired by a Nigerian, Dr Ebenezer Obadare.

He was also at the Reuters News Agency; The Politico, an international political newspaper, and Zenger News, a channel that publishes its contents on Forbes.

During his respective interactions with the Think-tanks and international media, the minister presented the facts of the just concluded polls as against skewed narratives of the opposition and naysayers.

NAN reports that the economy and foreign affairs were also discussed during the interactions.

At Reuters, the Agency’s recent investigation of alleged secret programmes of coerced abortion of women and girls freed from insurgents’ captivity were discussed.

(NAN)

April 5, 2023

Labour Party has uphill task at tribunal against Tinubu

Labour Party, Peter Obi

Elder statesman and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Robert Clark, said it would be difficult for the Labour Party, LP to prove that there were election malpractices in Lagos State during the March 18th presidential election.

Clark stated this in an interview on Arise TV on Tuesday.

The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC’s Asiwaju Bola Tinubu won the 2023 presidential election, beating close rivals, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, and Labour Party’s Obi.

But, Clark, said Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, have an uphill task before the election tribunal.

He said, “Let me be honest with you, let’s take for instance, the Obi, Labour Party. They had filed an election petition based on one- Bola Tinubu is not eligible to be voted for, two and even if he is eligible to be voted for, he did not get the two-thirds in Abuja, and even if he got it, the election was marred with gangsterism and different things.

“Those are the three elements that the Labour Party has brought forward to an election petition. Now let me draw from the pool of my own experience.

“The first one is that he is not eligible because he has been found guilty, but that is a non-starter. The issue has been settled and it is a non-starter. So the Labour Party can never make any headway on that ground. The second ground is that by virtue of the constitution that says to win an election despite and in spite that you have made the greatest number of votes, you cannot be declared elected if you don’t have two-thirds in 36 States and Abuja.

“The question to be considered by the Tribunal is what constitutes two-thirds of the 36 States in Nigeria and Abuja and how do you construct that word ‘and’ do you take 36 states first and you now take Abuja and now say that for you to be elected you must have two-third of 36 States and two-third of the federal capital and that is the view of the Labour Party which I do not agree with.

“Now, look at the scenario they are saying, If Tinubu had won two-thirds of all the 36 States and failed to win two-thirds of Abuja, then he cannot be elected. Does that make sense? Does that give any good reason for democracy to survive?

“Now the Supreme Court now says that look Abuja has been created as one of the 36 States, so it enjoys the status of a state, but the Supreme Court in one or two other cases would also say in determining whether Abuja is a state, you should not grant Abuja any privileges once you declared it as a state.

“The constitution itself says all votes cast in an election in Nigeria are equal, so how do you now add all these three principles that Abuja cannot have any special status, that all votes cast in Nigeria have equal states, then why do you want to interpret ‘and’ there to mean that even if I had 36 states, two-third and I don’t get Abuja, then I cannot be elected, it doesn’t make sense.

“Democracy means polarity of the people, for the people and for all the people.

“Therefore, my own view, which I think is a reasonable view, but I am subject to other views from my learned colleagues and the Supreme Court, is that in determining whether Tinubu has made that provision of two-thirds of the states, it must be the 36 states plus Abuja which is 37 states, so if he has made the polarity of two-third votes in all these states added together, then he becomes elected.

“But as I said, this is subject to interpretation by the Supreme Court. But I am basing my submission on what the Supreme Court has said on Abuja, what it has said about votes, and what it has said about the equality of votes among the states. But I am subject to my opinion being rejected, but that is my view.

“Even if the Labour Party decides that Tinubu has not qualified by virtue of past precedent, they still have to surmount the principle that the election was marred with many irregularities.

“The law says there is a presumption of regularity attached to whatever INEC does. The Evident Act in Nigeria gives INEC that privilege.

“The Supreme Court is now in a difficult position to look at all the evidence to be brought by the Labour Party regarding malpractices. Now the notorious place the Labour Party is holding is Lagos. They are claiming that in Lagos, they were cheated, and voters were not allowed to vote.

“Now when they prove it, they still need to go a step outside the proving to show how it has affected the election. So they have an uphill task.

“So my own view from my own experience in election matters, it is an uphill task for them, but you never know. You never know the circumstances of these malpractices, you never know how many votes were not allowed to be cast, so I cannot pitch my tent to say that they would not succeed, but my belief is that they have an uphill task,” he said.

Reported by Miftaudeen Raji of Vanguard Newspaper

April 4, 2023

Peter Obi, Datti have committed treason: FG

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Datti Baba-Ahmed, Peter Obi

The Federal Government said the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi and his running mate Datti Baba-Ahmed have committed treasonable acts in their opposition to the 2023 election results.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed made the statement while speaking in Washington DC, with some international media organizations.

The Nigerian minister accused Obi of inciting people to violence over the outcome of the Presidential elections.

During the respective interactions with the media organizations, the minister said it was wrong for Obi in one breadth to seek redress in court over the outcome of the polls and in another breadth incite people to violence.

“Obi and his Vice, Datti Ahmed cannot be threatening Nigerians that if the President-elect, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is sworn in on May 29, it will be the end of democracy in Nigeria.

“This is treason. You cannot be inviting insurrection, and this is what they are doing. Obi’s statement is that of a desperate person, he is not a democrat that he claimed to be. A democrat should not believe in democracy only when he wins election,” he said.

The minister said in challenging the election results, there was no pathway to victory for either Obi or Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

According to the minister, both Obi and Atiku failed to meet the constitutional requirements to be declared as president.

Lai Mohammed said: “The constitution has stringent criteria for anybody who wants to be president of the country.

“Not only must he have the plurality of vote cast in an election, but he must also have scored one-quarter of votes cast in at least 25 states.

“Only the President-elect met the criteria by scoring 8.79 million votes and having one-quarter of all the vote cast in 29 states of the federation.”

The minister said Atiku who came second with 6.9 million votes was only able to make one-quarter of the votes cast in 21 states.

He said Obi came third with 5.8 million votes but won only one-quarter of the votes cast in 15 states.

“You cannot win an election in a poll where you came to a distant third position and failed to meet constitutional requirements.

“Peter Obi, while complaining of fraud has not disowned his victory in Lagos,” he said.

Elaborating on his mission to the U.S., the minister said he was there to correct the negative narratives being promoted by naysayers and opposition on the election.

He said the opposition, having lost in the election were alleging fraud, calling for its cancellation and constitution of an interim government.

“We have come here to balance that skewed narratives and to tell the world unambiguously that the just concluded general election in Nigeria is the fairest, most transparent, and authentic in the history of Nigeria.

“The election is the fairest and most credible because of the introduction of the Bimodal Voters Verification System (BVAS) which I regard as a game changer.”

Reported by PMNews

April 3, 2023

May Nigeria heal from Peter Obi’s Obidients

Obidients, Peter Obi

By Fredrick Nwabufo

Religion governs the sacerdotal facet of human life. Religion does not only bring out the divine and the human in us; it also unsheathes the basest and vilest part of us, depending on where the lamp is rubbed. We are all religious beings, but with a divergent pool of beliefs.

Religion is an emotive subject; hence a dangerous and nonpartisan explosive when soused with politics. The flame from the wrong application or deployment of religion consumes all — the genie, the lamp, and the wielder. It spares neither friend nor foe.

That which is temporal should not impugn that which is holy and spiritual. What is for the dogs should be for the dogs, and what is for God for God.

Religion has always been an undercurrent in Nigeria’s politics. It has always mattered in our elections. And it has always been of significance in our national life.

However, owing to Nigeria’s delicate religious complexion, political actors who are sensitive to the country’s unity, have always been cautionary about making religion the centrepiece of their politics. Understanding that the votes of Nigerians, whether Christian, Muslim or traditionalist, count in deciding the outcome of elections, these political actors walk the tightrope of not pitting one religion against another.

Even when religion is in the mix, it has always been subtle; whispered and operated behind shutters. Never has religion been so abused in our politics in recent history as in the 2023 elections. Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, exercised religion in his campaigns with an open assault on national unity and cohesion. And he appeared blatant, defiant, and unperturbed about the concomitants and reverberations of his methods on national unity.

To Peter Obi, the election was a ‘’religious war’’ — perhaps with casualties, victors, vanquished, missing limbs, and torsos. This jaundiced thought process obviously set the stage for the rampaging of his ‘’Obidients’’.

Peter Obi’s politics has scourged the land. It has scorched the umbilical cord holding us together – just as his ‘’Obidients’’ continue to poison our unity dutifully. A dangerous precedent has been set. When political campaigns are driven by prejudices and ethnic contaminants, the corollaries remain long after electioneering. The leadership may find itself on tenterhooks as regards establishing trust and building cohesion with some sections of the country over vicious ethnic and religious obloquy.

It is concerning that some respected Nigerians are endorsing this naked abuse of our electoral process as the Electoral Act 2022 prohibits campaigns with the underpinnings of religion. It is fair, according to them, because Peter Obi is the protagonist today, but what happens when the table turns?

This utter disregard for our laws, all sense of decency and patriotism is precarious for Nigeria as it sets one religion against another. With such a precedent, elections may no longer be about competence and governance, but about religion and about who has the largest following among the religions.

This is a path to doom. It does not bode well for our country. It is regressive, atavistic, and destructive. What Peter Obi has done with his politics should not be rationalised by anyone. In fact, it should be condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians.

We cannot speak of building a united country and endorse what Peter Obi has done with his unfettered struggle for power in any way. It is wrong, and a blight on the national conscience.

If the purpose of seeking power is truly for the good of Nigerians, then the highest level of patriotism is expected of political actors. But why is Peter Obi so desperate for power? Why is he so menacing about the outcome of the election? What is behind this rabid quest for power? Why is he seeking to plunge the nation into crisis over his ambition?

Politics reveals the concealed hue of a familiar face; it awakens forgotten prejudices. In politics, our weaknesses are emboldened, and native fissures foregrounded.

I believe our politics is religiously and ethnically charged because good governance is not at the core of the game. Some politicians and even some citizens see political power as conquest and as a diadem to assert sectional and doctrinaire relevance and pursuits – as Peter Obi’s bent shows. We must do away with this. If it is really about leadership, then religion and ethnicity must remain on the back burner.

To radical ‘’Obidients’’ who are still in campaign mode and slinging prejudices for nuisance advantage, the elections are over, and the rest of Nigeria are now focused on governance and on advancing with Nigeria. Not that patriotism matters to radical ‘’Obidients, as they have shown themselves incapable of logic and reason, Nigeria is still a country of laws for those who may want to manifest their delusions.

Nigerians must begin to wrest the narrative from this horde. We must speak peace and unity for the country.

May Nigeria find healing.

By Fredrick Nwabufo, Nwabufo aka Mr OneNigeria is a media executive.

April 2, 2023

Kenneth Okonkwo confirms Bishop Oyedepo-Obi shameful phone audio

Bishop David Oyedepo, Peter Obi

Actor Kenneth Okonkwo, a Peter Obi supporter has confirmed a viral shameful phone conversation between Labour Party presidential candidate and Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel.

Okonkwo made the confirmation on Twitter and Instagram, although he tried to put another spin on it, different from the clear message in the audio.

In the original audio, Obi, quavering like a servant to his lord, sought the help of Oyedepo to sell him in the South West, Kwara, Kogi and Niger as a candidate of the church.

He gave an assurance that the church will not regret backing him.

Obi, who spoke from Onitsha few days to the 25 February election, declared the election as a religious war and wanted Oyedepo reach out to the christians in the aforementioned states.

Oyedepo responded that he was already doing something in that regard, citing a statement he had issued in which he said that a sick nation requires ‘a strong and healthy personality’.

To Oyedepo, the other main candidates were not good enough for Nigeria. Obi was the man, his God wanted for Nigeria.

Listen to the conversation:

Oyedepo gave the assurance that the election “shall be favourable” to Obi in “Jesus name”.

Obi concurred with Oyedepo’s prediction and promises, lacing his responses with ‘Yes Daddy, Thank You Daddy” and so on.

Okonkwo charging in on Saturday night, confirmed that the phone conversation took place but denied the obvious that Obi was exploiting the religious fault line of the nation.

“Our attention has been drawn to the publication of this audio tape of private conversation between @peterobigregory and Bishop Oyedepo.

“It is not surprising that these political criminals are trying to spin the conversation as if Obi was making a religious statement.

“Firstly, the context of the conversation was aptly put by Bishop Oyedepo when he said “All Nigerians have equal stake in this nation, nobody has the right to claim that he is dashing something to someone”.

“His Excellency Peter Obi was simply urging the Bishop to help him push this message of equal stake of all Nigerians in the Nigerian project to his people and the christiandom because the politicians of the other party is carrying on this campaign as if it is a religious war.

“To drive home this point, he informed him that he visited the traditional ruler of Offa, the Olofa of Offa, who is a Muslim but who advised Obi to get the support of Oyedepo and be assured of his own support.

“No Politician has ever visited the Olofa of Offa It is clear to everybody that the APC political party that has a Presidential Candidate, Vice Presidential Candidate, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, National Chairman of the Party all from one religion at a time the CJN is a Muslim is the Party that has declared religious war on Nigerians and we must all rise up together to fight this unconstitutional act of religious intolerance of other religions by APC.

“I went around with Obi on campaign train and never saw him discriminate against any religion. Of course he can’t because his Vice is a Muslim unlike APC.

“I resigned from APC because of their religious intolerance. Nigerians should disregard any insinuation of religious bigots about this tape”

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Tag: Peter Obi