Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has been declared the winner of the 2023 Nigerian presidential election.
Tinubu was declared the winner by Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the National Returning Officer for the presidential election and Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), at past 4 am on Wednesday.
“Tinubu Bola Ahmed, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” Yakubu declared.
According to Yakubu, the 70-year-old APC presidential candidate polled 8,794,726 million votes to emerge victorious, which constitutes 36 per cent of the total vote cast. Tinubu also fulfilled the constitutional requirement of getting 25 per cent in 24 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as he got the stipulated percentage in 29 states.
Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), came second with 6,984,520 million votes (29 per cent of the votes), while Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) candidate, garnered 6,101,533 million votes to finish in third position (25 per cent of the votes).
Rabiu Kwankwaso, the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), finished fourth with 1,496,687 million votes.
Interestingly or by sheer coincidence, the trio of Tinubu, Atiku and Obi finished tops in 12 states (the LP candidate won 11 states and the FCT), while Kwankwaso won in one state.
However, none of Atiku, Obi or Kwankwaso got the required 25 per cent in 24 states and the FCT, as the PDP candidate got in 21 states, the LP candidate secured it in 16 states, while the NNPP candidate had it in only one state.
Although the final result has been declared, both the PDP and LP rejected the election at the national collation level. Both parties have asked INEC to conduct a fresh General Election and asked Yakubu to step aside.
It remains to be seen if both parties will head to the tribunal to challenge the official result.
