NEWS
Lai Mohammed Asserts Peter Obi Would Not Have Become President Even With 10 Million Votes, Debunks ‘Rigged’ Narrative
Former Minister of Information and National Orientation, Lai Mohammed, has dismissed claims that ex-Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, was denied victory in the 2023 election, asserting that Obi would not have become president even if he had polled 10 million votes.
Speaking on Edmund Obilo’s podcast, State Affairs, the immediate past minister explained that contrary to popular perception, Obi did not pose a significant challenge in the 2023 presidential race. Mohammed also recalled his efforts to engage the international community to clarify the true outcome of the election.
He said: “Even if Peter Obi had won 10 million votes, he could not have become president.
“After the election, its legitimacy was being questioned, if you remember. As a matter of fact, the Labour Party, if you go to social media in 2023, you would feel it won the election; they were everywhere on social media.
“And they did not win the election. Unfortunately, the perception out there was that they won and were rigged out. They did not win and were not rigged out.
“I took it upon myself and my team to meet think tanks in the US, UK, and international media, and we explained to them why Peter Obi could not have won the presidential election.
“The constitution of Nigeria is very clear: you need two requirements to win the presidential election. First, you must have scored the highest number of votes; second, you must also have scored at least one-quarter of the votes cast in two-thirds of the states.
“The results are there: Obi did not come first, he did not even come second; he came a close third to Atiku.
“However, he scored one-quarter of the votes cast in 15 states, Atiku scored one-quarter of the votes cast in 21 states, and only Asiwaju had the majority of votes and one-quarter of votes cast in 29 states of the federation.
“Obi was not the biggest headache, and I think that if he had stayed with Atiku, PDP would have won.”
Mohammed’s remarks come amid ongoing debates over the credibility and fairness of the 2023 presidential election, which saw a surge of social media narratives claiming that Obi and the Labour Party were unfairly denied victory.
The former minister’s intervention highlights the constitutional and mathematical realities of the election, challenging widespread perceptions and reaffirming the offic
ial election results.