The All Progressives Congress (APC) was taken aback by Peter Obi, the presidential candidate for the Labour Party (LP), winning the election in Lagos State on February 25, 2023, according to Minister of Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola.
The former governor of Lagos State claimed during an interview with Channels Television’s Sunday Politics that Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has little chance of winning since the Labour Party energized its supporters in Lagos.
Bola Tinubu, a steadfast ally of the newly elected president, also claimed that his party, the APC, conducted internal polls prior to the election but withheld the results, branding them as “badly conducted” and predicting the win of Obi and Atiku.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who oversaw the Tinubu-Shettima campaign’s Election Planning Directorate, claimed that his party was aware of the states where it stood a good chance of winning and had focused its efforts there.
Fashola, though, claimed that occasionally his team was taken by surprise. “Occasionally, you’re taken by surprise. Because the opposition turned out their supporters there, we were taken by surprise in Lagos, he claimed.
“And you also noticed that the umbrella party, a party that has been in opposition for 24 years, abruptly vanished. It demonstrated that their base of support
When asked if the APC was taken aback by LP’s victory in the Lagos presidential election, he responded, “Yes, without a doubt. In the ensuing gubernatorial election, we turned out our voters after they had turned out theirs.
Obi defeated Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State who received 572,606 votes, with 582,454 votes cast on February 25. But the electoral umpire deemed Tinubu the winner since he received the most votes overall.
Atiku, the former vice president, received 6,984,520 votes, while Obi received 6,101,533 votes. Tinubu received 8,794,726, about two million more votes than Atiku, his closest competitor, who received 12, of Nigeria’s 36 states.
Former Anambra State governor Obi won the election in 11 states, including Lagos, the APC candidate’s home state. Additionally, he won in Abuja, the nation’s capital. Similar to Tinubu, Abubakar won in 12 states.
Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State and candidate for the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), came in fourth place and won in Kano. He obtained 1,496,687 votes.
Even though the LP won the presidential election, its candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, was defeated by Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the APC, who gained reelection in the March 18 governorship election.
With a total of 762,134 votes, Sanwo-Olu defeated Rhodes-Vivour, who received 312,329 votes, and was followed by Abdul-Azeez Adediran alias Jandor of the PDP, who received 62,449 votes.
Prior to Tinubu’s inauguration on May 29, 2023, Atiku and Obi have petitioned the court to overturn his election.
