We’ll explore all legal, peaceful options to reclaim our mandate – Peter Obi

PETER Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has vowed to challenge the election that produced Bola Tinubu as president-elect.

Obi, speaking at a press conference today in Abuja, said he will explore all legal and peaceful options to reclaim his mandate.

“If you must answer his excellency, the process by which you arrived at the office must be excellent,” Obi said.

“We will explore all legal and peaceful option to reclaim our mandate. We won the election and we will prove it to Nigerians. I am challenging the process.”

Just at the commencement of the briefing, Obi observed a one-minute silence for all injured and deceased victims of the February 25 poll.

Also in attendance at the briefing is the party’s National Chairman, Julius Abure; as well as the director general of Obi’s presidential campaign, Akin Osuntokun.

He also said himself and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed remain committed to a new Nigeria.

He effusively thanked his youthful followers known as ‘Obidients’, urging them not to be deterred by the outcome of the polls.

“We will work for that new Nigeria that is possible,” he said. “Datti and I remain committed to that new Nigeria.”

He assured youths in the country that he is not going away but will stay and work for a new Nigeria.

He said the poll did not meet the minimum standard for a free and fair election, adding that the poll will go down as the most controversial election conducted in Nigeria.

Obi lamented that Nigeria cannot conduct election 63 years after independence.

Recall that the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Tinubu polled 8,794,726 and was declared President-Elect yesterday by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The former Lagos State governor came out tops in 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states, and secured significant numbers in several other states to claim the highest number of votes — 8,794,726, almost two million votes more than his closest rival — former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Atiku, 76, who has now run for president six times, got 6,984,520 votes, while Obi, who, in less than a year, galvanised young voters in a manner some have described as unprecedented finished the race with 6,101,533.

By his victory, APC’s President Muhammadu Buhari will hand over to his partyman, Tinubu after the expiration of his eight-year two-term on May 29, 2023.