Abdullahi Adamu, the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has criticized Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, describing him as immature and selfish for claiming he won last Saturday’s presidential polls. Mr Adamu expressed his views at a news conference on Thursday, stating that the level of immaturity, selfishness, and lack of judgment displayed by Mr Obi was disheartening.
Mr Adamu urged Mr Obi, along with other opposition leaders, to accept the outcome of the polls as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), saying it did not make sense for them to claim victory. He argued that it was the nature of things to win some and lose some, citing examples of how the APC lost some major states, including Lagos, Kano, Katsina, and Nasarawa. Despite these losses, Mr Adamu emphasized that the APC did not shed tears or cry foul, making them the real political party in the country.
Regarding the strategic position of Lagos, Mr Adamu said that losing the state did not deter the party from its focus, which was to win the presidency. He praised the APC's resilience and stated that the party's victory in the presidential election was what mattered most.
In contrast, Mr Obi, declared the second runner-up in the presidential polls, addressed a press conference on Thursday, claiming he won the election and would prove it in court. The LP flag bearer urged his supporters, mostly young Nigerians, to remain peaceful as he explores legal means to reclaim his “stolen mandate.”
The INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, declared Bola Tinubu of the APC the winner of Saturday’s presidential election at the National Collation Centre, Abuja, on Wednesday. This declaration came amidst protests by the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party, who called for the suspension of result collation and outright cancellation of the presidential poll due to INEC’s failure to upload election results on its server in real-time.
Mr Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, winning 12 of Nigeria's 36 states. Mr Abubakar came second, polling 6,984,520 votes, while Peter Obi of Labour Party came third, polling 6,101,533 votes.