Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC),Peter Obi, has said he is ready to protect his votes in the 2027 general election, even if it means giving up his life.
Obi disclosed this in Port Harcourt, during a town hall meeting with voters tagged “Obi Talks Nigeria”, where he fielded questions on the prospects of the next general election.
The former Anambra State Governor contested the 2023 presidential election on the banner of the Labour Party (LP) but came third behind former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who triumphed in the election.
Obi and his team have, however, consistently alleged that the 2023 election was characterized by irregularities and rigging.
At the Rivers town hall on Thursday, Peter Obi appealed to Nigerians to prevent a repeat of what he described as irregularities witnessed during the 2023 general election.
He stated that efforts are on course to ensure that intimidation and suppression of voters do not occur during the polls.
“Nobody will intimidate us again at the polling booth,” Obi said.
“If you get to any polling booth today, the highest number of officials you see is five. The average number of voters is 40 to 50. There is no way five people will intimidate 50 people.
“This time all of us will rescue our country. Somebody said, ‘We are ready to die.’ Let me tell you, I’m ready to die too.”
He said further that the NDC would establish effective coordination mechanisms to ensure that voters freely exercise their rights.
“We will make sure we have coordination to ensure that such intimidation does not arise,” Obi said.
The presidential candidate of the NDC insistedthat while attempts might be made to manipulate election results through the Independent National Electoral Commission’s result viewing portal (IReV), such efforts would be strongly resisted.
“Yes, they will try to manipulate the IReV. But let me tell you, it will not be easy this time,” he said.
Obi said that alternative technological measures would be deployed to ensure transparency in the transmission and collation of election results.
“There will be so many IReVs this time. If there is a network glitch, we will give them another one that has no glitch,” he said.
“By allowing them to continue, that glitch will glitch our lives. That is what we are suffering today.”
