A former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has said lawful means will be pursued to frustrate electoral malpractice in 2027.

Mr Obi made the declaration on Wednesday during his official defection to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Enugu State.

The former Anambra State governor explained that his decision to join the ADC coalition was aimed at achieving a level of socio-economic development, which is both inclusive and unifying.

Mr Obi stated, “Today is an important day. Today is the last day of 2025. So, we are ending this year with a hope that in 2026 we will begin a journey of rescue of our country, for proper socio-economic development that will be unifying and inclusive.”

Urging party members to oppose all forms of electoral malpractice during the 2027 poll, Mr Obi condemned what he described as the hypocrisy of individuals who once benefitted from democracy but had turned agents undermining the system.

He stated, “We have all watched those who benefited from our democracy, sometimes, now become accessories to destroying our democracy, either through coercion and gangsterism against the opposition. We cannot allow this to happen. We will resist it. We have now seen people who benefited from our democracy now part of celebrating electoral fraud publicly.”

Mr Obi called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which he described as “a weak institution”, to adhere to establish rules and regulations expected to guide the general elections.

“We are saying that those who are planning to rig an election in Nigeria come 2027, we will resist it by every means lawful and legitimate. This happened because we have weak institutions like INEC. We are urging them (INEC) in the coming election, we must do whatever it is to follow the rules and the regulation,” he said.

The politician stressed that the period leading up to the 2027 elections provides sufficient time to address pre-election issues, including concerns over educational qualifications.

“We can no longer be where they are asking whether this person went to school or not. We have one year now to determine who went to school and who didn’t go to school.”

“We have one year now for people to tell us the school they attended and when they left the school. We don’t want it to be something we go to court after election and they say it’s pre-election matter. We have pre-election situation now to verify everybody who wants to contest the election in Nigeria,” Mr Obi noted.

Stating his commitment to national development, Mr Obi said that unity and competent leadership were essential to improving Nigeria’s overall worth.

“Two things are critical if we are going to turn around Nigeria, we must stay united. Nigeria today is not united. We must ensure the unity of the country. We must ensure we have competent leadership,” Mr Obi said.