By Marvellous Nyang
The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, as the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election.
INEC declared Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, as the president-elect after the 70-year-old polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 6,984,520 in the 2023 presidential election.
The Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, came third in the election with a total of 6,101,533 votes while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) came fourth with 1,496,687 votes.
The INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, at around 4:10 am on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, announced Tinubu as the winner at the International Collation Centre in Abuja.
Tinubu of the APC won in 12 states, Atiku of the PDP also won in 12 states, Obi of LP won in 11 states, while Kwankwaso of NNPP won in one state, his home state, Kano.
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However, Tinubu won having fulfilled the constitutional requirement of having 25% of ballots in 24 of Nigeria’s 36 states, as he also led Atiku, Nigeria’s former Vice President and his closest challenger, with no fewer than 1.8 million votes.
The 70-year-old Tinubu who is contesting the presidential election for the first time had been a two-term governor of Lagos State, from 1999 to 2007, and also a former senator before being a governor.
Others who contested alongside Tinubu, Obi, Atiku, and Kwankwaso, for Nigeria’s presidency include Prof Peter Umeadi, All Progressives Grand Alliance; Yusuf Mamman Dan Talle, Allied Peoples Movement, Kachikwu of the African Democratic Congress; Kola Abiola, People’s Redemption Party; Omoyele Sowore, Africa Action Congress; Adewole Adebayo, Social Democratic Party; Malik Ado-Ibrahim, Young Progressive Party; Prof Christopher Imumulen, Accord Party; Osakwe Felix Johnson, National Rescue Movement; Hamza Al-Mustapha, Action Alliance; Sani Yusuf, Action Democratic Party; Nnnadi Osita, Action Peoples Party; Oluwafemi Adenuga, Boot Party; and Nwanyanwu Daniel Daberechukwu of Zenith Labour Party.
