Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has again maintained that he won the presidential election, while acknowledging that there is no evidence to prove his claim.
Obi made the statement while reflecting on the outcome of the 2023 presidential election and discussing his political journey ahead of the 2027 general election.
According to a video shared by Vanguard on X on October 6, 2026, Obi said: “I don’t like going back to the past. I won the election (2023). Well, there’s no evidence but I won the election.”
Peter Obi Repeats 2023 Election Claim
Obi has repeatedly said that he won the 2023 presidential election despite the official results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner.
INEC declared Tinubu the winner after he secured 8,794,726 votes.
Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) finished second with 6,984,520 votes, while Obi, who contested under the Labour Party, came third with 6,101,533 votes.
The official results placed Tinubu ahead of Atiku and Obi in the final tally announced by the electoral commission.
Obi Challenged Election Result in Court
Following the declaration of the result, Obi rejected the outcome and challenged Tinubu’s victory at the Presidential Election Petition Court alongside other opposition candidates.
The Presidential Election Petition Court subsequently dismissed the petitions challenging the election result.
Obi and Atiku appealed the decision, but the Supreme Court later upheld Tinubu’s election victory after dismissing the appeals.
The judicial decisions brought the legal challenge to the 2023 presidential election to an end.
Obi Maintains He Won Despite Court Decisions
Despite the decisions of the courts and the official result declared by INEC, Obi has continued to publicly maintain that he won the 2023 presidential election.
His latest comment adds to previous statements in which he has questioned whether the election outcome reflected the wishes of Nigerian voters.
Obi has also argued that his supporters gave him a mandate to lead the country and has continued to discuss the 2023 election in the context of his political plans ahead of 2027.
However, his latest statement specifically acknowledged that he has no evidence to establish his assertion that he won the election.
2027 Election Ahead
Obi’s latest remarks come as Nigeria’s political parties and prospective candidates prepare for the 2027 general election.
The former Anambra State governor remains a prominent opposition figure, while political discussions around the 2023 presidential election continue to feature prominently in debates about Nigeria’s next election.
For the record, INEC’s declared result and the subsequent court rulings recognised Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election. Obi’s assertion that he won is a political claim that he continues to make publicly, rather than the outcome established by the electoral commission or the courts.