The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has challenged Peter Obi to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race following his pledge to do so if proven to have incurred financial liabilities during his administration as governor of Anambra State.
This was just as the campaign council accused Obi of making baseless claims about the outcome of the 2023 election.
The council’s spokesman, Dele Alake, criticised the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for insisting that he won the last election despite admitting that he had no evidence to support his claim.
Alake made the remarks in a statement released on Friday in response to Obi’s recent interview with the BBC, during which the former Anambra State governor maintained that he won the 2023 presidential election.
Obi had said, “I won the last election. There’s no evidence, but I won the election. Everything is not based on evidence.”
Reacting, Alake described the statement as troubling and accused Obi of disregarding facts and evidence in his attempt to justify his position on the election.
He argued that Obi’s continued insistence that he won the election, despite finishing third in the official results, raised questions about his credibility as a presidential aspirant.
Alake said the former Labour Party presidential candidate’s remarks were unbecoming of someone seeking to lead Nigeria, adding that political claims should be supported by verifiable facts.
He also questioned the sources of Obi’s assertions and accused him of making exaggerated claims without substantiation.
The APC spokesman maintained that President Bola Tinubu won the 2023 presidential election, noting that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared him the winner and that the election tribunal and Supreme Court upheld the result.
INEC declared Tinubu the winner with 8,794,726 votes, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, came second with 6,984,520 votes. Obi, who contested on the platform of the Labour Party, finished third with 6,101,533 votes.
Obi and his party subsequently challenged the outcome at the Presidential Election Petitions Court, alleging electoral irregularities and non-compliance with electoral laws.
The tribunal dismissed their petition on September 6, 2023, and affirmed Tinubu’s victory. The Supreme Court also dismissed Obi’s appeal on October 26, 2023, upholding the lower court’s decision.
Despite the legal outcomes, Obi reiterated his position during the BBC interview, saying he stood by his claim that he won the election.
When asked about his allegation that the election was rigged, Obi said he did not want to revisit the past but maintained his position.
In his statement, Alake also renewed the APC campaign council’s call for Obi to honour an alleged earlier pledge to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race if it was established that his administration in Anambra State had left liabilities.
“We again call on Peter Obi to act honourably and honour his earlier pledge to exit the 2027 presidential race if it is proven that his administration left behind liabilities in Anambra State—a fact now clearly established by the state’s financial records, the statement added.
Meanwhile, former governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has said he does not regard Obi as an enemy, despite their political differences and his criticism of the former Anambra governor’s record in office.
Oshiomhole made the clarification during an interview with Symfoni TV on Thursday, explaining that both men had experienced political opposition when they served as governors under different parties.
“Peter Obi is not my enemy. We both suffered at some point as governors. I was ACN, he was APGA. We were both oppressed by PDP federal might,” he said.
The senator explained that he had invited Obi to Edo State to commission a project because he believed political disagreements should not prevent leaders from supporting development.
He said the invitation was not an indication of political endorsement, noting that he had also invited other governors from across the country.
Oshiomhole added that he remained comfortable with his decision to invite Obi and urged people not to interpret their political disagreements as personal hostility.