Abia South Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe has questioned the legitimacy of President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election, despite the official declaration of his win.
“Tinubu never won the 2023 election, and everybody knows it,” Mr Abaribe said in an interview with Channels TV on Monday.
He added, “But we said fine, he has been declared the winner, no problem. We acknowledge him as president, but we are going to meet him in the field, and I will see how he is going to cobble together what will make him win again.”
Mr Tinubu was declared the winner of the election, defeating former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
Both candidates rejected the results, citing alleged gross violations of electoral laws. The Supreme Court later affirmed Mr Tinubu’s election, dismissing a key piece of evidence that claimed he had presented a falsified certificate to contest the presidency.
Speaking on the current state of the nation, Mr Abaribe expressed confidence that Nigerians’ growing frustration with economic hardships would influence the 2027 elections.
“Everybody loses elections, and you will see when the time comes. He will lose in 2027 because I know what Nigerians are feeling outside,” he said.
“It won’t work because this time everybody will be ready. It will no longer be an announcement at 3:00 a.m. before people wake up in the morning. This time, people are ready, we are ready, and the masses are even more ready.”
On the recent wave of defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Abaribe said the opposition remains focused on exploiting the party’s weaknesses ahead of 2027.
“I think it is very good for us in the opposition that these defections are happening. All the APC is doing is absorbing all the problems it is going to face.
“They are right inside the party now. Ask yourself, in all the states where there are defections, what is going on there now?” he questioned.
Watch the video here…
Tinubu will lose in the 2027 election; He Never won in 2023
We are going to meet him in the field, and we will see how he will couple together that thing that will make him win again; it won’t work!
– Enyinnaya Abaribe, Senator, Abia South Senatorial District#PoliticsToday pic.twitter.com/efkYBRUT97
— Channels Television (@channelstv) December 15, 2025