By Seyi Babalola
Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s candidate for president, has reversed his former position, saying he would only contest the steps taken to determine Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the presidential election on February 25 and not the announcement itself.
In a tweet sent out on Monday afternoon to his verified Twitter account, he announced this U-turn and stated that he was attending the tribunal to contest both the proceedings and the verdict.
In an interview with Arise TV’s “The Morning Show” on Monday, Obi had stated that he would only contest the electoral procedure by which Tinubu was declared the victor of the presidential election, not the proclamation itself.
“I’m not challenging who they declared,” Obi had stated, “I’m not challenging whatever…the outcome, I’m challenging the process (through) which they arrived at their declaration.”
“And unless we do that, we’re not going to stop the rascality we witnessed in that election,” he had said.
“The process through which people come into office is for me…far more fundamental than what they do thereafter. There is a process of doing things. There is a process of arriving at any destination. Like I said in my press conference, if you’re going to answer ‘His Excellency’, the process of coming to that position must be excellent. If you’re going to be a Bishop, there’s a process of being a Bishop,” Obi had maintained.
In a surprising turn of events, the Labour Party candidate said on his Twitter page on Monday afternoon that he would contest both the election process and the declaration itself.
“Following my response to a question while appearing on Arise TV earlier today, I want to state categorically that at the Presidential Elections Tribunal (PET), I am challenging the INEC electoral process that led to the declaration of Tinubu as president-elect as well as the declaration itself,” Obi wrote.
