The 2023 presidential election, according to Peter Obi, was the worst in Nigerian history and a setback to the democratic process.
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) made the remark on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday, saying that despite the massive budget for the election, the exercise did not meet expectations.
“We have seen probably what I consider the worst election in our recent history because of the Electoral law [Act] of 2022 which gave so much hope and the huge expenditure we put into technology,” the former Anambra State governor said.
“Do you know what it means to spend over $1bn? So, there was so much that was promised and then we went back to what it used to be. For me, that is very devastating.”
Obi, who berated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over its failure to transmit results of the presidential election in real-time via its portal, said the conduct of the 2023 exercise has downgraded the country.
“Everybody paid so much emphasis on the law and the technology,” he maintained, describing the failures of the exercise as “when you promise so much and don’t even meet the minimum”.
“Whenever there is an election announced globally, what it does is that it uplifts the ratings of that society,” Obi said during the show.
He says the conduct of the presidential election has further dampened the morale of youths who had so much hope in the process.
The LP candidate, who has challenged the declaration of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the exercise, is, however optimistic about getting justice.
“I am not hurt or saddened personally but I am for my country and the future it portends for the young ones and the future generation because we can’t go on this way,” he said. “We must build and bequeath them a better future.”
Obi said he is on course to getting justice.
“So, having gone through courts, several of them, I have not had any cause to doubt the court,” he said.