Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate for the All Progressives Congress, has been recognized as the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
After receiving 8,794,726 votes to win the 2023 presidential election, Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, was named the new president.
In the International Collation Centre in Abuja in the wee hours of Wednesday, INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu declared Tinubu the winner.
Tinubu triumphed against rival candidates Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party.
The three front-runners for president each won 12 states, although Kwankwaso only won Kano State.
Atiku, a former vice president and his closest rival, lost to Tinubu by a margin of no less than 1.8 million votes.
Tinubu ran for president for the first time in the 2023 presidential election. The former senator, who served as governor of Lagos State for two terms until leaving office in 2007, is credited with organizing the alliance that deposed the PDP in 2015. In recent years, he has expanded his influence outside of the South-West.
In addition to Tinubu, Obi, Atiku, and Kwankwaso, other contenders for the presidency of the country included Dumebi Kachikwu of the African Democratic Congress, Kola Abiola of the People’s Redemption Party, Omoyele Sowore of the Africa Action Congress, Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party, Malik Ado-Ibrahim of the Young Progressive Party, Prof. Christopher Imumulen of the Accord Party,
The list also includes Sani Yusuf of the Action Democratic Party, Nnnadi Osita of the Action Peoples Party, Oluwafemi Adenuga of the Boot Party, Osakwe Felix Johnson of the National Recovery Movement, and Hamza Al-Mustapha of the Action Alliance.
According to a count of the ballots made public by election officials from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Prof. Jude Rabo, the state collation officer for Borno, pronounced Tinubu the winner after the candidate received 252,282 votes from voters in the 27 local government areas.
Atiku and Obi only managed to receive 190,921 and 7,205 votes, respectively, while Kwankwaso received 4,626.
Tinubu received 231,591 votes from 23 LGAs in Rivers State, while the LP received 175, 071 votes and the PDP received 88, 468 votes.
Yet the Labour Party’s victory in the Federal Capital Territory turned out to be a game-changer, shocking both Tinubu and his PDP rival.
Due to his popularity in Abuja, Obi received 281,717 votes, while the former governor of Lagos and the former vice president tied for the remaining positions with 90,902 and 74,149 votes, respectively. Kwankwaso received 4,517 votes as well.
Yet in several northern and middle belt areas, such as Zamfara, Kwara, Kogi, Benue, and Kogi States, Tinubu made up for his losses.
The APC received 310,468 votes in Benue, pushing the LP (308,372), PDP (130,081), and NNPP (4,740) to second, third, and fourth place respectively.
He received 298,396 votes in Zamfara State, compared to 1,660 for the LP, 4,044 for the NNPP, and 193,978 for the PDP.
As anticipated, Obi outperformed rival candidates in Plateau, winning with 466,272 votes to the APC’s 307,195, the PDP’s 243,808, and the NNPP’s 8,869 votes.
Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Kwara, Ekiti, Kogi, Benue, Zamfara, and Jigawa are among the states that Tinubu has so far won, while Atiku has triumphed in Bauchi, Yobe, Gombe, Kaduna, Kebbi, Bayelsa, Adamawa, and Akwa Ibom.
Obi, on the other side, won the FCT as well as the states of Lagos, Enugu, Cross River, Nasarawa, Imo, Anambra, Abia, and Anambra.
APC received 8,794,726 votes in the final tally, compared to PDP’s 6,984,520, LP’s 6,101,533, and NNPP’s 1,496,687.
“That Tinubu Bola Ahmed of the APC, having satisfied the conditions of the law is now proclaimed the winner and returned elected,” the INEC chief said in announcing Tinubu as the winner.
FINAL: Nigeria’s Presidential Election results
APC = 8,805,655
PDP = 6,984,520
LP = 6,098,588
NNPP = 1,496,687
Others = 666,298
