Doyin Okupe Dismisses Peter Obi’s Rigging Claims in 2023 Presidential Election

Former presidential spokesman Doyin Okupe has dismissed allegations by Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi that the 2023 presidential election was rigged.

Okupe, who served as the Director-General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign, questioned the validity of Obi’s claims, citing instances where the All Progressives Congress (APC) lost in key strongholds.

In a statement on Thursday, Okupe said:

“If Peter Obi or the Labour Party says APC rigged elections, how come Obi was able to win in the home base of President Bola Tinubu? How come APC lost the election in the home base of the sitting President, Muhammadu Buhari? How come APC lost the election in the home base of the secretary to the government?

“The accusations about rigging do not hold water; they do not hold water at all. The truth of the matter is that under the best of conditions, the results we got may not have been the exact results, but they will have that ratio.”

Okupe described the opposition’s claims that “the presidency was stolen” as unrealistic.

“There’s nothing like that. No presidency was stolen. I am not saying there was no rigging,” he added.

President Bola Tinubu emerged victorious in the 2023 presidential election, with Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) coming second, and Obi of the Labour Party placing third.

Obi and his supporters, known as the Obidient Movement, have maintained that the election was rigged in Tinubu’s favor by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

They insist that Obi won the election despite the official results.