Former Labor Party (LP) presidential campaign director Doyin Okupe has said the opposition’s claims that the mandate was stolen in the 2023 election are baseless.
He insisted that while there may have been a possibility of collusion, the president’s powers were not stolen from the opposition.
Okupe shared his thoughts in a statement in Lagos on Thursday.
He wondered how Peter Obi could have won in Tinubu’s home turf if the election was indeed rigged.
Okupe said, “If Peter Obi (2023 LP presidential candidate) and the Labor Party are saying that the APC rigged the election, how come Obi was able to win in President Bola Tinubu’s home turf? ?” he said.
“Why did the APC lose the election in the home base of the incumbent president (Muhammadu Buhari)?Why did the APC lose the election in the home state of the head of the government?
“Therefore, the accusations of bid rigging are unfounded. They don’t hold any water at all.
"In fact, under the best conditions, the results obtained may not be the exact results, but the proportions will be there.
“I was in the Labor Party. We couldn’t have done better. I know that for a number of reasons, but that’s a discussion for another day.”
According to him, the opposition PDP and LP’s claims that the “presidential position was stolen” do not seem to be realistic.
Okupe added: The presidency was not stolen. This is not to say that there was no collusion.
“There has not been an election held in Nigeria since 1960 to date that has not been rigged in one way or another, not a single one.
“Perhaps the exception was the election of MKO Abiola because of the unique nature of the voting pattern. As you know, it was option A4. It was.”
Mr. Okupe, who expressed strong belief in Mr. Tinubu’s reforms, said the president’s policies would start bearing fruit in the second year of his administration.
The former LP leader said he was impressed by Tinubu as a “deep thinker” not only as a politician but also as a technocrat.
He said Mr. Tinubu has a quick understanding of development ideology and policies. “This is something you don’t learn. It’s a gift.”
The 72-year-old politician said Mr Tinubu was similar to the late Western Region premier Obafemi Awolowo, who had great ideas on public policy.
Okupe described Tinubu as a reformer and said it was “complete nonsense” to say the president came into office without a plan.
