Bola Tinubu Declared Nigeria’s President-Elect
Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Wednesday announced that ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu won the highly disputed presidential race and will be succeeding the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari.
The West African nation’s electoral body said the 70-year-old ruling party candidate secured nearly 8.8 million votes, while main opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won 7 million votes and Labor Party (L.P) candidate Peter Obi came in third with about 6.1 million votes.
Mahmood Yakubu, INEC’s chief announced Tinubu’s victory overnight during a live television broadcast.
“Tinubu, Bola Ahmed, of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared winner and is returned elected,” said Yakubu.
Adenike Mutiat Abubakar, one of Tinubu’s supporters expressed excitement to witness the ruling party candidate take the presidency.
“He had done it before, and we know that he will do better than what he did in Lagos,” said Abubakar, adding, “he’s the man of the people, so that’s why everybody wants him.”
INEC’s announcement comes amid vote rigging allegations by opposition candidates who accused the electoral body of manipulating results in favor of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate.
Julius Abure, the Labor Party’s chairperson Tuesday addressed reporters where he called for the election to be cancelled.
“The election is irretrievably compromised,” said Abure.
“We demand that this sham of an election should be immediately cancelled,” he added.
INEC responded to the opposition’s allegations by saying “contrary to the insinuation by both parties, results emanating from the States point to a free, fair and credible process.”
International observers of Saturday’s election said February 25 was mostly peaceful, but noted delays that made voters wait until the following day to cast their ballots.
The European Union’s observer mission echoed these findings.
“INEC lacked efficient planning and transparency during critical stages,” read a statement released by the EU’s observer mission.
Source: VOA
