The fundraising team of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation has revealed that Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, spent a staggering sum of N744,500,000 on legal proceedings subsequent to his defeat in the 2023 presidential election.
Aisha Yesufu, the chairperson of the fundraising team, made this revelation during a press briefing held on Thursday in Abuja.
Providing details of the Labour Party’s election expenditures, Yesufu mentioned that the party collected donations amounting to N596 million from party supporters, including the Obidient movements, as well as contributions from Nigerians worldwide.
Yesufu said, “Accountability and transparency are very critical and important. We raised N595,976,994 in donations through four financial institutions, including Zenith Bank and Heritage Bank. We also received N800m from the candidate (Obi). Although some money came in one week to the election, so many people and vendors put so much into the campaign without demanding payment.
“We designed a strategic blueprint focused on channelling the movement energy and support for Peter Obi and Datti Ahmed by providing direct and indirect support to over 100 groups across all 36 states in Nigeria. We also deployed media-related campaigns that reached over 11 million people, leveraging over 40 radio stations, community outreach, and social media.”
In contrast to reports suggesting that Obi neglected to compensate his polling unit agents, Yesufu clarified that they were indeed incentivized with a total of N324 million.
Furthermore, she lamented the inability to effectively utilize television advertisements for their campaign due to financial limitations.
“So, out of these things, campaign materials worth N258,374,330 were procured and distributed across the 36 states and also in Abuja. Media, including radio broadcasts, was at the cost of N16,432,867.
“For the election promotion expenses, we had N10,808,948 and deployed N744,500,000 to cover legal expenses. We thank everyone who donated in cash and kindness.”
In the presidential election held on February 25, 2023, Obi secured 6,101,533 votes, securing the third position in the race won by Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Despite the announcement of the election results by the Independent National Electoral Commission, Obi and the Labour Party rejected them. They initiated a legal challenge, contesting the election outcome all the way to the Supreme Court.
After 171 days of litigation, the Supreme Court upheld Tinubu’s victory on October 26, 2023.