BREAKING: No figures outside polling units will be announced in 2027, says Obi  

Politics

ABUJA, Nigeria (NPA) — The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has explained his recent remark that he was “ready to die” for his vote, saying the statement was made in response to a member of the audience who expressed a similar determination at a political gathering in Port Harcourt.

Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, made the clarification in an interview with Ojy Okpe on Arise Television’s Morning Show, aired on September 10, 2026, and monitored by our correspondent.

He explained that someone at the political gathering had told the audience that he was prepared to die for his vote, prompting him to encourage the people by saying that he was also prepared to do the same.

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Obi said his focus was on ensuring that votes cast at polling units are properly counted, recorded and transmitted.

“We must make sure that every polling unit the votes are counted, recorded properly and counted. We’ll have a dual transmission to INEC portal and to where the people will see it. This time around, we’ll make sure that in every polling unit, we must have a system that transmits to our own situation room.”

He said such a system would prevent anyone from announcing figures that did not emanate from the polling station, adding that in 2023, he and his supporters took certain things for granted by believing that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would carry out its responsibilities lawfully.

Obi alleged that the immediate past INEC chairman worked for the opposition and maintained that he won the 2023 presidential election.

“Everybody knows they (INEC) did the wrong thing,” he said.