The former Lagos State Governor and Presidential Candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been declared Nigeria’s President-Elect.
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, announced the former Lagos Governor’s victory, minutes past 4am on Wednesday at the National Collation Centre in Abuja, a hall packed full of journalists, party agents and observers.
That Tinubu Bola Ahmed of the APC, having satisfied the requirement of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” Professor Yakubu declared in an announcement watched by an eager nation and many across the world.
Tinubu, 70, came out tops in 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states, and secured significant numbers in several other states to claim the highest number of votes — 8,794,726, almost two million votes more than his closest rival — former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Atiku Abubakar, 76, who has now run for president six times, got 6,984,520 votes, while the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, who, in less than a year, galvanised young voters in a manner some have described as unprecedented finished the race with 6,101,533.
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, won the polls in 11 states, including the home state of the APC candidate — Lagos. He also came out tops in the nation’s capital Abuja. Like Tinubu, was victorious in 12 states.
Former Kano State Governor and candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, finished fourth, claiming victory in his state — Kano. He secured 1,496,687 votes.
Professor Yakubu’s announcement, four days after the vote, brings to a climax a presidential election marred by controversy, violence and ballot box snatching in some states of the country on February 25 during the election.
At the collation centres on Monday, the main opposition parties had called for the cancellation of the presidential election, alleging that the process had been manipulated.
They demanded that the Commission upload the polling units results into the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV) to authenticate the presented results.
Despite appeals from the INEC chairman to the parties to allow the process continue, the opposition party agents insisted on rejecting the results and continuation of the process, storming out of the collation centres.
