Even With 10m Votes, Obi Couldn’t Have Won 2023 Election — Lai Mohammed

Former Minister of Information and Culture, Alh. Lai Mohammed, has insisted that the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Mr Peter Obi, could not have emerged winner of the contest even if he had secured as many as 10 million votes.

Mohammed made the assertion while speaking on broadcaster Edmund Obilo’s podcast, ‘State Affairs’, where he explained that Obi failed to meet the constitutional requirement of securing one-quarter of the votes cast in at least 25 States of the federation.

“Even if Obi had got 10 million votes, he wouldn’t have won. This is because he still could not get one-quarter of the votes cast in 25 states. It is even on record that he could not provide agents at about 40,000 polling units,” the former minister said.

Speaking on the dynamics that shaped the outcome of the 2023 presidential election, particularly in Lagos State, Mohammed said ethnicity and religion played an unusually prominent role.

“For the first time in the history of politics in Nigeria, ethnicity and religion played a very frontal role,” he said.

He also noted that the #EndSARS protests had a lingering effect on the election, especially in Lagos, where many youths, according to him, were driven by anger.

“The #EndSARS protests had an impact, particularly in Lagos, where many youths wanted a pound of flesh, which did not help the APC or Bola Tinubu,” Mohammed stated.

The former minister further highlighted the distinction between presidential elections and other electoral contests such as governorship and National Assembly elections.

“I am of the belief that the presidential elections are not as personal as the governorships or national assemblies. In presidential elections, a man might not be affiliated with any of the candidates. But when it comes to governorships, it is particular and peculiar because the candidate lives in the state,” he said.

On the leadership style of President Bola Tinubu, Mohammed said the president do not abandon political allies after electoral losses.

“Asiwaju is not the kind of person who will drop his support for you because you have lost the election. No, he will still encourage you,” he said.

He added that Tinubu was often underestimated due to his approachable and charismatic nature.

“He is strategic and really understands Nigerian politics better than anybody you might think of,” Mohammed concluded.