Peter Obi 2023 election claim has drawn a response from the Presidency, with Bayo Onanuga insisting Obi lost the 2023 presidential poll
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, has criticised Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate Peter Obi over his continued claim that he won the 2023 presidential election, urging him to accept the outcome of the poll.
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Onanuga made the comments on Tuesday while responding to an interview granted by Peter Obi on Channels Television, where the former Anambra State governor maintained that he won the election but was denied victory through alleged electoral malpractice.
The presidential aide described Obi’s position as unrealistic, arguing that the candidate came third in the February 2023 election and should move beyond the result after legal challenges were resolved.
The claim has remained a major point of political debate more than three years after the election, with Obi and his supporters continuing to dispute the official outcome that produced President Bola Tinubu as winner.
In a statement, Onanuga said Obi’s interview represented a missed opportunity to address questions surrounding his political journey and the election result.
“You lost, Peter. You didn’t win that election,” Onanuga said, adding that Obi performed well despite having limited political structures across many states.
He argued that Obi’s continued rejection of the election outcome amounted to a refusal to accept reality after the Supreme Court dismissed his legal challenge.
“It is time you accepted the stark reality of the loss. Stop dreaming of a victory that you never had,” Onanuga said.
The presidential adviser also criticised Obi’s comparison of his political movements with those of President Tinubu, arguing that Tinubu had maintained a consistent political identity since entering partisan politics in the early 1990s.
According to Onanuga, Tinubu’s political journey began with the Social Democratic Party, where he was elected to the Senate during the Third Republic, before later becoming a leading figure in the All Progressives Congress.
The exchange follows renewed political discussions ahead of the 2027 general election, with Peter Obi remaining one of the prominent opposition figures expected to play a significant role in shaping the political landscape.
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While the Presidency has maintained that the 2023 election result was legally settled, Obi and his supporters have continued to argue that the election did not reflect the true choice of voters, keeping the debate alive within Nigeria’s political space.
