Obi spent N744.5m on election lawsuits – Aisha Yesufu

The fundraising team for the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation, on Thursday, disclosed that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, expended N744,500,000 on litigation following his loss in the 2023 presidential election.

This was disclosed by the chairperson of the fundraising team, Aisha Yesufu, on Thursday at a press conference in Abuja.

Yesufu, who was giving an account of the LP election spending, said the party received donations totalling N596m from party supporters, including the Obidient movements, and Nigerians across the globe.

Yesufu said: “Accountability and transparency are very critical and important. We raised N595,976,994 in donations through four financial institutions, including Zenith Bank and Heritage Bank. We also received N800m from the candidate (Obi). Although some money came in one week to the election, so many people and vendors put so much into the campaign without demanding payment.

“We designed a strategic blueprint focused on channelling the movement energy and support for Peter Obi and Datti Ahmed by providing direct and indirect support to over 100 groups across all 36 states in Nigeria. We also deployed media-related campaigns that reached over 11 million people, leveraging over 40 radio stations, community outreach, and social media.”

Countering reports that Obi did not pay his polling unit agents, Yesufu said they were mobilised with N324m, regretting that they could not properly utilise television adverts for their campaign because of financial constraints.

“So, out of these things, campaign materials worth N258,374,330 were procured and distributed across the 36 states and also in Abuja. Media, including radio broadcasts, was at the cost of N16,432,867.

“For the election promotion expenses, we had N10,808,948 and deployed N744,500,000 to cover legal expenses. We thank everyone who donated in cash and kindness.”

Obi was said to have polled 6,101,533 votes to emerge third in the February 25, 2023 presidential election won by Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress.

Obi and the LP, however, rejected the election results as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission.