A 70-year-old Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been declared as the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election.
His march to Aso Villa to become Nigeria’s Fifth President in the Fourth Republic followed his victory in Saturday’s presidential election.
The results were announced by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu at 4;10 am in Abuja. Yakubu doubles as the Chief Returning Officer for the 2023 Presidential Election.
70-year-old Tinubu, candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), polled 8.8 million votes to defeat his closest rivals – Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP) and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP).
Aside from Tinubu; Obi; Atiku, and Kwankwaso, other candidates that gunned for the nation’s oval office include Dumebi 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; Prof Peter Umeadi, All Progressives Grand Alliance; and Yusuf Mamman Dan Talle, Allied Peoples Movement.
The list also includes Hamza Al-Mustapha, Action Alliance; Sani Yusuf, Action Democratic Party; Nnnadi Osita, Action Peoples Party; Oluwafemi Adenuga, Boot Party; Osakwe Felix Johnson, National Rescue Movement; and Nwanyanwu Daniel Daberechukwu, Zenith Labour Party.
Announcing the results, Prof. Yakubu said: “That Tinubu Bola Ahmed of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and returned elected.”
The INEC boss announced that Tinubu and Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima will get their certificates of return today at 3.00pm.
The announcement of Tinubu’s victory was greeted by celebrations in many parts of the country by millions of Nigerians, who had waited with bated breath since voting ended at the weekend.
Tinubu won votes across the length and breadth of the country, winning in 12 states scattered across five of the country’s six geo-political zones. He did not win in any of the five states in the Southeast, where LP candidate Obi hails from. Obi got the bulk of his 6.1m votes from the Southeast. He took all five states.