Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the February 25 election, has dismissed insinuations that the outcome of the election which produced Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president-elect as the will of God, noting that God doesn’t rig elections.
Obi who said this on Monday, while featuring on ARISE Television’s Morning Show, said he would not be cowed into accepting the results.
He said: “The problem of Nigeria is accepting what is unacceptable. That’s not God’s wish. God’s wish is when you do the right thing. Is it God’s wish that we remain poor as a country despite his abundant blessings on us?”
“I’m very respectful to them and I think that they should be respected for what they represent to society. But I disagree with them. What they are actually preaching is the problem of Nigeria. The problem of Nigeria is accepting wrongdoing and accepting what is unacceptable.
“That is using God’s name in vain. That is not what God is saying. God said do not use my name in vain.
“So, what they are saying is not God’s wish, it is not God’s plan for Nigeria.
“So are they saying that the 133 million Nigerians who are poor is God’s wish? Why don’t we accept that 95 million Nigerians living in absolute poverty is God’s wish? It is God’s wish that your children are kidnapped?
“It is God’s wish that we have collapsed Primary Health Care making us the country with the highest infant mortality.
“That’s not what God’s will says. God’s will is that when you do the right thing then in the end it is well.”
Obi said Nigeria has laws regulating the conduct of elections, noting that it is not the wish of God that they should be violated.
“We have clear laws about the conduct of the election, it’s not God’s wish that we do the wrong thing. We want God’s wish to be truly God’s wish. Is it God’s wish that we steal or conduct the wrong election?” he queried.
Obi insisted that he is not interested in challenging the “outcome” of the election but more in the process in which the election was conducted.
He said INEC, as a public institution, should always submit itself to scrutiny from Nigerians.
“INEC is a public institution and it should be open. Because if you do something and people are not satisfied then you should be able to open up yourself.
“INEC has conducted an election and announced the winner but I am only asking that I have access to the materials that were used to arrive at the result. I am not asking you to change what you said.
“I’m not challenging their declaration. Or rather, I am not challenging who they declared. I am not challenging whatever the outcome is. I’m challenging the process by which they arrived at their declaration.
“And unless we do that, we are not going to stop the rascality we witnessed in that election. The process through which people come into the office is far more fundamental than what they do thereafter.
“There is a process of doing things, of arriving at every destination. A process is important”, he said.
Obi said that Nigeria has remained decadent in a continuous state of moral decline because many citizens keep accepting what is wrong and dragging God into it.
He, however, said the Obidient Movement is in the system to change it and create a new egalitarian society.
He said, “It is a saddening fact that after 63 years as a nation, Nigeria is yet unable to conduct a good election. The February 25 presidential election is the worst in Nigeria’s history considering that the Electoral Law of 2022 was enacted to ensure free, fair and credible elections.”
Obi said while he is pursuing his mandate through legal and peaceful means, it is disheartening that rule of law is being treated with levity by INEC, which is a public institution maintained by taxpayer’s money.
He said what he is challenging is the process and he does not hope to back out until the right thing is done because doing and accepting the wrong thing is what has kept the nation down.
On some insinuations on him from some aides speaking for their principals, Obi said since they were not on the ballot he would prefer to speak when those he contested with speak, but that the 97 percent votes he got in Anambra State should not disturb anybody because he was expecting 100 percent votes as the people know him and believe in him.
He also said that he has been truthful to the people, same for the South East and other states where he received the lion’s share of the votes cast because they believe and trust in him.
“They forgot that I got over 95 percent in Anambra State in 2019 when I was a running mate, in 2023 I was the main candidate, I am even surprised that I did not get 100 percent”, he said.
On the claim that he took away PDP votes and helped the APC’s Tinubu to win, Obi said he was not contesting to help anybody but to win and that by records, Nigerians made that happen despite the abracadabra by the INEC.
Obi also reiterated his support for LP governorship candidates in Enugu, Abia, Lagos, and Plateau states among others.
He directed his supporters to vote for them.
On the ethnic tension in Lagos State over his victory on the February 25 poll ahead of the March 18 governorship election, Obi said it is not ethnic but some mischievous persons trying to create such an impression, saying that many non-Igbos and Yorubas who share the aspiration for new Nigeria voted for him.
He said, “Even if Igbos voted for me, this is not the first time they are voting for people, they had voted massively like this for Olusegun Obasanjo even when he lost an election in his region and they also gave Jonathan more votes than South-South states and all these brouhahas did not happen.”
