Tinubu’s Victory Not God’s Plan For Nigeria, Peter Obi tells Aisha Buhari, others

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, on Monday replied to the recent comments by members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the victory of Bola Tinubu at the just-concluded presidential election, should be accepted as the will of God.

Recall wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, last week described the victory of APC's Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential poll as the will of God.

“Regardless of our interests and diversity, we should all accept it as the will of Almighty God; we wouldn't have done it without his grace.

“It is a victory for all Nigerians. I am optimistic that the President-Elect will not betray the trust and confidence that Nigerians reposed in him. It is now time to move on and focus on the path of `a renewed hope' for Nigerian women and youths,” she said.

But reacting in a post-election interview with Arise Television, Obi faulted the First Lady's comment saying God's wish is doing the right things and not vice-versa.

When asked if he would accept Tinubu's victory as the wish of God as some religious leaders rightly claimed, he emphatically answered; “What they are actually preaching is the problem of Nigeria. The problem of Nigeria is accepting wrongdoing and what is unacceptable. That is using God's name in vain. That is not what God is saying. God said do not use my name in vain.

“So, what they are saying is not God's wish, it is not God's plan for Nigeria.”

The electoral commission, INEC, had declared Bola Tinubu, as the winner of the Saturday, February 25 presidential election.

Mr Tinubu defeated 17 other candidates who took part in the election. He scored a total of 8,794,726 votes, the highest of all the candidates, thus meeting the first constitutional requirement to be declared the winner.

He also scored over 25 percent of the votes cast in 30 states, more than the 24 states constitutionally required.

However, Peter Obi of LP and his PDP counterpart have since taken the case to the Presidential Tribunal challenging the process that declared Tinubu as the winner of the poll.