A social media user, Lawrence Okoro, who claims to be a former member of the Obidient Movement, has alleged that Peter Obi privately admitted losing the 2023 presidential election.

The election, held on February 25, 2023, saw Obi, the Labour Party candidate, place third with 6,101,533 votes. Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party came second with 6,984,520 votes, while Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress secured victory with 8,794,726 votes, according to Independent National Electoral Commission.

Despite the official results, Obi had publicly rejected the outcome shortly after the election, insisting he won and would challenge the result through legal means, describing the process as flawed and controversial.

However, in a post shared on X, Okoro claimed that during a private meeting shortly after the election, Obi acknowledged defeat, attributing it to the absence of party agents at polling units. He alleged that the admission was made during discussions around pursuing legal action.

Okoro further stated that when he questioned the rationale for going to court despite the alleged admission, the room reacted strongly, while Obi reportedly remained silent.

Reacting to the claim, Yunusa Tanko, national coordinator of the Obidient Movement, dismissed the allegation and challenged Okoro to provide evidence. Tanko maintained that no such meeting took place and reiterated the movement’s stance that the election was manipulated, citing irregularities in the upload of results to the INEC Result Viewing portal.

The claim remains unverified, with no independent evidence presented to support the allegation.