President Bola Ahmed Tinubu threw down the gauntlet on Friday night, challenging the 2023 Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, to present concrete evidence to substantiate his persistent claims of winning the 2023 presidential election or permanently stop misleading the public.
​The challenge was issued in a press statement released on Friday evening, October 9, 2026, in Abuja by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Dele Alake.
​The Presidency’s reaction was prompted by a recent BBC interview where Obi maintained that he won the 2023 poll while simultaneously admitting that he possessed no documentary evidence to support the assertion. During the broadcast, when asked if he had proof to back his victory claims, Obi stated, “There is no evidence. Everything is not based on evidence,” before reiterating, “I won the election and that is where I will end.”
​Reacting to the interview, Alake criticized the former Anambra State governor for making unverified assertions that undermine democratic institutions.
​”It is a extraordinary display of political delusion for a presidential candidate to publicly claim electoral victory while openly admitting to having zero evidence,” Alake stated. “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory was certified by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), thoroughly scrutinised, and subsequently affirmed by both the Presidential Election Petition Court and the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Democracy relies on facts, law, and proof, not baseless sentiment.”
​The Presidency emphasised that the 2023 presidential election remains one of the most litigated and legally concluded polls in Nigeria’s history.
The administration urged Obi and the Labour Party leadership to respect the judicial process, embrace constructive opposition, and stop propagating narratives aimed at discrediting the country’s electoral and judicial systems ahead of future electoral cycles.
