Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Babachir Lawal, has made a stunning claim that the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, actually won the 2023 election, but had his mandate “stolen” by the APC.
Lawal, who recently dumped the APC for the coalition African Democratic Congress (ADC), made the revelation on Monday night during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Tonight.
According to him, based on the facts available, it was Obi—not President Bola Tinubu—who won the presidential poll. He insisted that the results he saw at the time confirmed Tinubu did not win.
“The problem with Bola Tinubu is that he thinks I’m the one who offended him. I didn’t offend him; he offended me. He is full of himself, and he thinks that because he is now the so-called president… I believe he didn’t win the election,” Lawal said.
The former SGF, a vocal critic of the current administration, further alleged that his team monitored the election closely, collected data, and tracked results from polling units. He claimed that some of those results were later altered.
When asked what offence President Tinubu committed against him, Lawal replied: “He is arrogant. The guy has an arrogance that defies definition.”
According to the official results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Obi came third in the poll. He rejected the outcome, but his efforts to reclaim what he described as his “stolen mandate” were unsuccessful, as the judiciary upheld Tinubu’s victory.
