The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Presidency have criticised Peter Obi over his claim that he won the 2023 presidential election, urging the former Anambra State governor to prepare for another defeat in 2027.
Obi, who is the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), made the claim during an interview with Arise News, where he also unveiled his governance plans ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
According to the official results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Obi, who contested the 2023 election on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), finished third behind President Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar.
However, Obi maintained that he won the election, insisting that those who conducted the poll knew what happened.
“I did, and I will maintain that as long as I live that I won the 2023 election. Those who conducted it know the records; they know why there was a glitch and what happened,” he said.
Reacting to the claim, APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, through his Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy, Abimbola Tooki, challenged Obi to produce evidence that he won the election.
“How can he say that he won the 2023 poll? How did he win it? Where is the result? He had no agents in many states of the North. Why didn’t INEC declare him as winner? He should go and prepare for another imminent loss in 2027,” Tooki said.
The Presidency also dismissed Obi’s claim, describing it as unrealistic following the Supreme Court’s final verdict on the 2023 election.
Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, said Obi was “fat on ambition but drunk on political arrogance.”
Dare added that only Nigerian voters had the power to determine the winner of an election and predicted that voters would again support Tinubu in 2027.
Obi also criticised the Tinubu administration over its handling of the savings from fuel subsidy removal, which he said amounted to about N15.8 trillion.
He described government spending as reckless and questioned the impact of the funds on the lives of Nigerians.
According to Obi, the problem was not necessarily the removal of subsidy but the failure to deploy the resulting savings productively.
He argued that the funds could have been invested in healthcare, education, agriculture, manufacturing and other sectors capable of creating jobs and reducing poverty.
Obi specifically cited the country’s limited cancer treatment infrastructure, arguing that a significant portion of the savings could have been used to build more cancer centres.
Responding, the APC said Obi should examine the increase in federal allocations to state governments under the Tinubu administration, the absence of fuel queues and other government interventions before questioning the use of the subsidy savings.
Obi also said he would retain the floating exchange rate policy introduced under Tinubu if elected president, but promised to combine it with policies aimed at increasing productivity and strengthening the value of the naira.
“Yes. One. It’s floating of the naira. I’m not going to defend it, but I’m going to put productivity to work to make it more valuable to the people,” he said.
The NDC candidate further promised to run a government without political proxies, saying he would personally take responsibility for the performance of his administration.
“I will be in charge and I will not run the government by proxy. I will be answerable to the people,” Obi said.
He also insisted that four years would be enough to begin transforming Nigeria and pledged not to seek an additional day in office beyond his first term if elected.
On infrastructure, Obi said his administration would prioritise the rehabilitation of existing roads and other public assets rather than embark on unnecessary new projects.
He also promised tougher action against kidnapping and banditry, including improved intelligence gathering, better welfare for security personnel and a firm refusal to pay ransom to criminal groups.
On the possibility of conceding defeat in 2027, Obi said he would accept the outcome if the election was free, fair and credible.
He disclosed plans by his campaign organisation to establish an independent result-transmission network through which polling-unit results would be sent in real time to a central citizen-led situation room.
Meanwhile, APC campaign council Director-General, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, said none of the opposition presidential contenders could match Tinubu in terms of experience and competence.
Speaking in Gusau, Zamfara State, Yari urged members of the Nigerian Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to support Tinubu’s re-election bid, insisting that the President was ahead of his challengers in quality and merit.
Obi also clarified his position on a possible alliance with Atiku Abubakar, saying any agreement would have to involve the political parties rather than negotiations between individual candidates.
He denied rejecting an offer to become Atiku’s running mate in 2027, saying no such offer had been made to him.
Obi and Atiku were running mates on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket in 2019 but contested the 2023 presidential election separately, with Obi running under the LP and Atiku under the PDP.
The former Anambra governor said his focus for 2027 remained on presenting an alternative governance model centred on productivity, job creation, security, infrastructure and accountability.
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