•••REITERATES CONFIDENCE IN JUDICIARY
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi has said that the 2023 presidential election is the worst in Nigeria’s recent history.
Obi said that the in spite of the fact that the Electoral Act 2022 and the humongous investment in technology gave so much hope, INEC bungled the process and failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians.
Obi who described the failure of the electoral commission as devastating noted that the conduct of the Commission was inimical to the image of the country.
He deplored the failure of INEC to transmit results from the polling units to the IReV Portal as promised repeatedly by the commission.
Obi made the comment while speaking as a guest at the Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily Programme on Thursday.
“We have seen probably what I consider the worst election in our recent history because of the Electoral law [Act] of 2022 which gave so much hope and the huge expenditure we put into technology.
“Do you know what it means to spend over $1bn? So, there was so much that was promised and then we went back to what it used to be. For me, that is very devastating.” He said
However, Obi has reiterated that he has confidence in Nigeria’s judiciary despite the controversy around their rulings on some matters.
He said that the Justices are Nigerians who are aware of how bad the situation has been in the country which only truth and justice will address.
“They, the Justices desire a better Nigeria for themselves and their children and that can only come through doing the right thing and telling the people the truth of any situation.
“For me, I have no cause to doubt the courts, it’s we the politicians that are bent on corrupting every aspect of our national life”.
On what his reaction will be if the nation decides to go on with the situation, Obi said he would be shocked if the country goes on with the rascality of criminality.
The former Anambra state Governor said it’s disheartening that the giant of Africa cannot deliver a simple election when small nations like Ghana can deliver with a small error margin and big nations like India also delivers with less than a five percent error margin.
Obi reiterated his earlier position that what the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared is false, pointing out that he’s challenging the process and the declaration.
“My trust in INEC has evaporated with what they did on February 25, setting out a rule for the election and abandoning it in the middle of the game. He said that the majority of Nigerians have declared a vote of no confidence on INEC because everybody saw that they promised so much and could not deliver even the minimum.
The LP standard bearer likened what INEC did on February 25 to a restaurant promising a sumptuous meal, serving the a la carte but failing to bring the main meal.
On his message to his supporters for Saturday’s gubernatorial and state Assembly elections, Obi said they should vote for Labour Party candidates in their states, and where there is no candidate they should vote with a new Nigeria in mind, looking out for competence, character, capacity, and capabilities.
