Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has alleged that former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, worked for his political opposition during the 2023 presidential election.
Obi made the allegation during an interview with ARISE News while reflecting on the 2023 election and outlining his plans for monitoring the electoral process ahead of the 2027 presidential poll.
The former Anambra State governor said Nigerians had taken INEC’s assurances at face value in 2023, believing that the electoral commission would conduct a credible and transparent election.
According to Obi, Yakubu had travelled extensively and assured Nigerians and the international community that the commission was prepared to conduct a credible election, but he alleged that the former INEC chairman ultimately acted in favour of his opponents.
Obi said his experience from the 2023 election had changed his approach to the 2027 poll, stressing that his campaign would not rely solely on assurances from electoral authorities.
He said his team planned to establish an independent result-monitoring and transmission system that would receive results directly from polling units and allow them to compare those results with figures transmitted through INEC’s official system.
Obi also maintained that he had evidence to support his allegation against Yakubu. However, he did not present specific evidence during the interview to substantiate the claim.
The 2023 presidential election was won by President Bola Tinubu, while Obi, who contested on the Labour Party platform, finished third according to the official results announced by INEC. Obi and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar challenged the outcome in court, but their respective petitions were unsuccessful.
Ahead of the 2027 election, Obi said his priority would be to ensure that results declared at different levels could be traced back to what voters actually produced at polling units.
He said the proposed independent monitoring system would help prevent situations where election results announced at higher levels could not be reconciled with figures recorded at polling stations.
