Anambra Central senator, Victor Umeh, on Monday said courts should not determine the outcome of elections in Nigeria, stressing that votes should count.

Umeh was reacting to the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, presidential candidate, Peter Obi’s call on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to ensure that votes count in 2027.

Speaking over the weekend, Obi said the electoral umpire must ensure that the votes of Nigerians count in 2027.

In an interview on Channels Television on Monday, Umeh backed Obi’s stance, stressing that elections should be free, fair and credible in Nigeria.

Umeh said: “On the aspect of my own presidential candidate, Peter Obi having said that this 2027 election if they fail to count the votes then they would count those who didn’t make the votes to count. It’s a statement that is not harmful in the sense that what we want is a credible, free, and fair election where all the votes will be counted and recorded in the prescribed forms and those votes should be the determinants of the actual election.

“We have said this because of experience of the past because people will not be called out to vote on election day and they voted for a particular candidate and the result that would come out in the end will be the opposite. So it’s not about promising free and fair election, they have to do that to the latter to ensure that confidence in the electoral progress will be enhanced and the only way to enhance and protect the sanctity of the ballot box is by ensuring that the votes of the electorates counts in determining who wins the election.

“So it’s not about people being called out again in 2027, they will make their choices, cast their votes and in the end you announce fake results and ask anybody who feels bad about the result to go to court. The court should not determine the outcome of elections.

“It’s a very bad culture in Nigeria that people will go into an election with the mindset that they will be declared winner at all cost whether they receive the votes or not and ask the people who actually won the election but denied to go to court.”