The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has claimed that the former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, worked against his interest during the 2023 presidential election.
Obi made the claim in an interview with ARISE NEWS, monitored by The News Chronicle, while reflecting on the 2023 election and his preparations for the 2027 presidential poll.
According to Obi, he and his supporters took the electoral commission at its word in 2023, believing assurances that the election would be conducted properly.
“In 2023, we took things for granted. We believed INEC. We believed that what they were saying, they would do,” Obi said.
“Because the chairman then was busy travelling all over the world, telling the world that he and his team are prepared to do the right thing. When he was actually working for the opposites,” Obi alleged.
When asked whether he had proof that Yakubu was working for the opposition, Obi initially responded, “No,” before appearing to affirm that he had proof concerning the conduct of the 2023 election.
“Everybody knows. You don’t need to. Even he knows. I’m sure if you meet him, he knows he is that,” he said.
The former Anambra State governor said he was no longer interested in dwelling on the events of the 2023 election, stressing that his focus was on the future.
“Those who think about yesterday and today will miss tomorrow. For me, it’s gone. It’s finished,” he said.
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Obi, who contested the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Labour Party, also maintained that he was confident he won the poll despite the official results placing him behind Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Obi dismissed the figures, insisting that officials who conducted the election knew that the process had not been properly handled.
“Forget about the margins that are there. Everybody, those who conducted the election, the officials know they did the wrong thing,” he said.
Obi is now seeking to contest the 2027 presidential election as the candidate of the NDC.
