Valentine Obienyem, the media aide of Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate has clarified that his principal's phone was not stolen in court on Tuesday.

Peter Obi, who was at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), in continuation of the case had alleged that the 2023 general poll was rigged against him in about 18,088 polling units, aside from alleged overvoting in parts of the South West.

But the defendants had, in their final written addresses, urged the court to strike out Obi’s petition for lacking in merit

Obi was accompanied by his running mate Datti Baba-Ahmed and novelist Chimamanda Adichie amongst others on Tuesday.

At the end of the proceedings, Obi discovered that his phone was not with him.

Several videos of him searching for a missing item circulated on social media.

Reacting to the development, Obienyem in a statement on Wednesday morning said an aide took the phone and kept it for safety’s sake.

“Yesterday, the news of the loss of Mr. Peter Obi’s phone went viral. The spontaneous outpouring of solidarity was yet again a demonstration of the love of the people for him.

“May I happily inform you that it was not a case of theft. He left the phones on his table to exchange pleasantries with some people in court, whereupon, for safety’s sake, one of his aides picked the phones,” Obienyem said as quoted by QED.