The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25 election, Peter Obi, has revealed his spotlight on a petition at the Presidential Elections Tribunal (PET).
In a tweet on Monday, Obi said he wants to challenge both the electoral process of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its declaration of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the president-elect.
“Following my response to a question while appearing on Arise TV earlier today, I want to state categorically that at the Presidential Elections Tribunal (PET), I am challenging the INEC electoral process that led to the declaration of Tinubu as president-elect as well as the Declaration itself,” Obi’s tweet read.
Former Lagos State governor, Tinubu, was declared the winner by INEC in the hotly contested election that saw the Labour Party candidate coming second behind Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
According to INEC, 70-year-old Tinubu, scored the highest number of votes — 8,794,726 after coming out tops in 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states. Atiku, 76, scored got 6,984,520 votes equally winning 12 states to place second, while 61-year-old Obi scored 6,101,533, winning in 11 states and the Federal Capital Territory to come third.
However, both Obi and Atiku have since rejected the declaration of INEC and have gone to court to challenge the outcome of the election.
Obidient Movement
Younger generations under 30 proved to be some of the biggest Obi’s supporters, showing their support via social media and protests and street marches.
Aisha Yesufu, a prominent activist noted as the cofounder of the #BringBackOurGirls movement and a supporter of the End SARS campaign, endorsed Obi in her first-ever endorsement of a presidential candidate.
Young supporters of Obi’s campaign have been nicknamed “Obidients”. TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the “Obi-Dients” are attracted by Peter Obi’s ideology of frugality, economic production rather than the ostentatious consumerism and waste, and resourceful management and investment in key sectors, for economic growth and development.”
Before campaigns were officially kicked off, Obi’s supporters held a series of One Million Man Marches in several Nigerian cities including Makurdi, Calabar, Lafia, Port Harcourt, Afikpo, Owerri, Enugu, Auchi, Abuja, Kano, Ilorin, Abakaliki and Ibadan.
The marches were not part of the official campaigns; as they were led by volunteer Obi supporters and not Obi’s in-house team or political party. The marches experienced massive turnouts.
