Abia South senator, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has claimed President Bola Tinubu did not win the controversial 2023 presidential election despite being declared the winner.

“Tinubu never won the 2023 election, and everybody knows it,” Mr Abaribe said in an interview on Channels TV on Monday. “But we said fine, he has been declared the winner, no problem. We acknowledge him as president, but we are going to meet him in the field, and I will see how he is going to cobble together what will make him win again.”

Mr Tinubu was declared the winner of the controversial election, having defeated his foremost rivals, former vice president Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who both rejected the results, citing gross violation of electoral laws.

The Supreme Court, however, affirmed Mr Tinubu’s election as the president of Nigeria after dismissing a crucial piece of evidence that showed the Nigerian leader presented a falsified certificate to run for office.

Mr Abaribe, in the interview, said the level of hardship confronting Nigerians at the moment has made them more determined to ensure that Mr Tinubu does not return as president after 2027.

“Everybody loses elections, and you will see when the time comes. He will lose in 2027 because I know what Nigerians are feeling outside.

“It won’t work because this time everybody will be ready. It will no longer be an announcement at 3:00 a.m. before people wake up in the morning. This time, people are ready, we are ready, and the masses are even more ready,” Mr Abaribe added.

The politician stated that the opposition would target the All Progressives Congress’ weak points in 2027, despite a recent wave of defections to the ruling party.

“I think it is very good for us in the opposition that these defections are happening. All the APC is doing is absorbing all the problems it is going to face. They are right inside the party now. Ask yourself, in all the states where there are defections, what is going on there now?” Mr Abaribe stated.