Lai Mohammed says Peter Obi could not have become president even with 10 million votes

Former Minister of Information and National Orientation, Lai Mohammed, has stated that ex-Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi would not have become president even if he had secured 10 million votes in the 2023 election.

Speaking on Edmund Obilo’s podcast, State Affairs, Mohammed insisted that Obi was not rigged out of the election and did not pose a significant challenge to the process. He recounted how he and his team engaged with international audiences to clarify that Obi did not win.

“Even if Peter Obi had won 10 million votes, he could not have become president. After the election, its legitimacy was being questioned, if you remember. As a matter of fact, the Labour Party, if you go to social media in 2023, you would feel it won the election; they were everywhere on social media. And they did not win the election. Unfortunately, the perception out there was that they won and were rigged out. They did not win and were not rigged out,” he said.

Mohammed added that he and his team met with think tanks and media in the US, UK, and other countries to explain the situation, citing Nigeria’s constitutional requirements. “The constitution of Nigeria is very clear: you need two requirements to win the presidential election. First, you must have scored the highest number of votes; second, you must also have scored at least one-quarter of the votes cast in two-thirds of the states,” he said.