Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Election has insisted that he “must be president” if the process is right.
However, Obi who is also a 2-term governor of Anambra state, said that he is more interested in the process of electing Nigeria’s president rather than the person elected. He said he had expected INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu to do what is right, and if he had, would have been declared president accordingly.
Obi made this assertion in Awka, the Anambra State capital, on Friday at the presentation of a book entitled: “Peter Obi: Many Voices, One Perspective,” according to a Daily Trust newspaper report.
BRANDPOWER reports that the former Governor of Lagos State and candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, was declared winner of the presidential election by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu.
According to the results declared by INEC, the APC candidate polled a total of 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party who scored a total of 6,984,520 votes. The LP candidate, Mr Obi, came third with a total of 6,101,533 votes.
Obi and Atiku, however, rejected the results and are currently challenging the declaration of Tinubu as winner of the polls at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja.
Obi said, “Anyone who thinks I am in transit is wasting his time. Let me tell you, I must be the president of this country. I am sure of that. If it is not today, it must be tomorrow.
“Other people who want to be, should come and tell us what they want to do, and how to do it. This is my country; I don’t have dual citizenship. If anyone thinks I am going to run away from Nigeria, they are lying.”
Peter Obi however stressed that he was not in a hurry to achieve the dream of becoming the country’s president. “I have three engagements in Anambra and Lagos today. I will be speaking in Lagos tonight. We will not leave Nigeria. I am not in a hurry to become the president, but I know it must happen.”
Going back to his initial foray into electoral politics, Obi said, “For three years I was in court in Anambra to reclaim my governorship (position), just to challenge the process. Many people tried to discourage me, but I said even if the entire four-year tenure elapsed for us to prove a point and correct the process, I will be fulfilled.”
Obi, however, emphasised that he was more concerned with the process that brings leaders to an office, and not about who the leader is.
He also said he was committed to the task of achieving a better Nigeria.
