Some international media organisations and Think Tanks have admitted that they were misinformed on the chances of the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, in winning the 2023 Presidential polls.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, stated this in London, when he concluded his engagements and meetings with the media houses and Policy Institutes.
The minister was in Washington and London to defend the legitimacy of the just-concluded general elections and correct the imbalance in the skewed narrative which had pervaded the air on the polls.
Addressing newsmen at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, London, where he concluded his engagements, the minister said his mission abroad was very successful.
We have been able to correct the imbalance in the reporting and we are leaving today with a better feeling. Most of the people we met agreed with us that they had been misinformed and they over-relied on social media hype, he said.
Mohammed said he was also able to explain the edge the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Sen. Bola Tinubu had over the two other major contenders, Obi and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, though they all won in 12 states each.
The minister said he also informed the media houses and think tanks that it was impossible for any party without national spread and grassroots base to win the Presidential election.
The minister said not until he educated them, many were not even aware of the requirements to win the presidential election in Nigeria. He said he pointed out to them that, in addition to the plurality of votes, a candidate must have one-quarter of votes cast in two third of the states which translates to 25 states before being declared the winner.
