I Never Said Peter Obi Rigged 2023 Presidential Election — Atiku's Star-Witness

By Ogochukwu Isioma

The star-witness in the ongoing Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) in Abuja, Ndubisi Nwobu, has faulted reports that he told the court that Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), rigged the February 25, 2023 presidential election in Anambra State.

Nwobu, who testified for the PDP and the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday, is also the Anambra State chairman of the opposition PDP.

In a clarification issued through the Anambra Deputy Director in charge of Media and Publicity of the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Committee, Uloka Chibuike, the PDP chairman said his statement was twisted to divert attention.

Nwobu said the case filed by his party, the PDP at the Presidential Tribunal was against the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), adding that it has nothing to do with LP or Peter Obi.

The statement reads, “The attention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Committee in Anambra State has been drawn to a publication in the public space wherein the purveyors of fake news alleged that Chief Ndubisi Nwobu claimed that Peter Obi rigged the presidential election in Anambra State at the ongoing Presidential Election Petition Court.

“This is not only falsehood, wickedness, and devilishness, but also a deliberate attempt by a few innuendos to discredit and blackmail Chief Nwobu’s person.

“We wish to state unequivocally and for the record that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not file a petition against the Labour Party, nor did the PDP name the Labour Party as a respondent in her suits at the ongoing Presidential Election Petition Court; rather, our petitions are against the All Progressives Congress Party (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“Chief Ndubisi Nwobu was at the Tribunal on the 7th day of June, 2023, as the 11th witness of HE, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, GCON, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to testify against INEC’s refusal to adhere to its own election guidelines, which state that polling unit results are to be electronically transmitted with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) directly and in real-time to the IREV portal.

“Chief Ndubisi Nwobu did not, by any means or disguise, state that Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, ‘rigged’ the presidential election in Anambra State or anywhere else.

“The Tribunal went further to ask Chief Nwobu who won the election in Anambra State; he responded explicitly that the Labour Party won the presidential election in the state and that his party is not in court with the Labour Party but with INEC, having reneged on her own guidelines.

“While we call on unsuspecting members of the public to kindly disregard the fake news that Chief Ndubisi Nwobu accused Peter Obi of rigging the presidential elections in Anambra State, we also wish to warn online bloggers against patronizing stories with sensational headlines without proper investigations, as expected by journalists and all news merchants.

“The PDP and Atiku Abubakar, GCON, its presidential candidate, are determined to present all evidence against INEC and the All Progressives Congress Party to convince the Presidential Election Petition Court that the mandate willingly given to Atiku Abubakar by the majority of Nigerians was wrongly appropriated and that such matters must be addressed to retrieve the mandate from the APC.

“Those wishing to divert attention, frame and defame innocent individuals should desist or face the consequences of their actions.”