The Labour Party said its candidate in the 2023 presidential election Mr. Peter Obi, and its Enugu State governorship candidate Chijioke Edeoga, were the greatest casualties in last year’s electoral fraud in Nigeria.
LP National Chairman Julius Abure who spoke in Abuja on Wednesday, when he received Edeoga on a ‘Thank You’ visit at the party’s national secretariat, said the party was robbed victory both at the presidential and Enugu governorship elections.
Abure in a statement by the LP National Publicity Secretary Obiora Ifoh, blamed the party’s misfortune on lack of electoral reform, and disclosed that it informed the decision to set up a committee on electoral reform.
“It is very clear that they robbed us of that election. It was done in collusion with INEC officials and PDP government in Enugu State. The whole world is aware of it,” he stated.
The Chairman announced Edeoga’s appointment into the committee, adding, “We believe that the starting point is to begin early enough with the pursuit of electoral reform because we saw all the antics that played out between the National Assembly and the presidency in the past electoral reform.
“And as I speak with you, we are already constituting the committee that will give us the framework for the review. We also decided that Labour Party will not be a spectator and that we will be the drivers of that processes.”
He expressed the belief that the only people that can pursue electoral reforms are those who were victims of the process.
“I have made it clear that the major victim of the 2023 general election is the Labour Party, and therefore we cannot be seen to take back seat in the pursuit of electoral reform and in defence of our votes.
“And since you are a major victim, one major victim after Peter Obi of electoral fraud in Nigeria, you will be in the best position to help the party and the Nigeria generally to resolve this crisis in our hand,” he said.
Edeoga who said that he was yet to come to terms with the Supreme Court judgement on Enugu State election, called on Labour Party to support electoral reform.
According to him, “The electoral brigandage and vote rigging are the most dangerous things that can happen in a democracy.
“So, anything we can do to protect the sanctity of votes, we should do it. The votes means someone’s approval for a candidate. It is more than a physical act. It is not just a symbolic act, it has a spiritual dimension.”
He thanked the party for given him its ticket to run for the election, stating, “I have to come here to tell you that the ticket you gave me, I did not play with it; I did not trade with it, I did not bargain with it.
“I knew that my people entrusted their mandate to me but it was not my fault; I tried my best. I came to say thank you. I came to say, I am here send me to continue the work of national redemption.”