Bola Tinubu, candidate of Nigeria’s ruling party All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared winner of the presidential election which ended this weekend. Several western news agencies are terming Tinubu’s victory as ‘disputed’ citing opposition claims that results were manipulated to hand victory to Tinubu and APC.
The former Lagos governor secured 8.8 million votes against 6.9 million for opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar and 6.1 million for Labour Party’s Peter Obi, news agency AFP reported citing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria.
The INEC confirmed Tinubu as president-elect as he also secured the required 25 percent of votes in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states and capital.
“That Tinubu Bola Ahmed of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and returned elected,” Mahmood Yakubu said early Wednesday morning (local time).
Outgoing President, Muhammadu Buhari, congratulated his successor and said he is the “best person for the job”, according to a report by Vanguard Nigeria. Buhari is stepping down after completing two terms.
“This is a serious mandate — I hereby accept it. To serve you… To work with you and make Nigeria great,” Tinubu said, while greeting jubilant party workers at APC party campaign headquarters in Abuja.
“I appeal to my fellow contestants to let us team together. It is the only nation we have. It is one country that we must build together,” he further added.
However, his fellow contestants remained dissatisfied with the results and up until Monday they were demanding that the voting and counting process be cancelled and demanded fresh elections.
This was PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar’s sixth attempt at the presidency but he was defeated this time as well but outsider Peter Obi’s (Labour Party) victory in former capital and eponymous province Lagos – also the backyard of president-elect Tinubu – has surprised observers.
This, fuelled with claims of failures in the system to upload tallies, long delays at many polling stations and some intimidation by thugs, has led to the opposition parties calling for fresh elections.
The PDP and the Labour Party have ruled out prospects of a coalition.
Tinubu has his work cut out when he takes over from Buhari in a few weeks time. Insurgencies in northern Nigeria carried out by Islamists and separatists in southeast Nigeria are issued which the former Lagos governor has to tackle.
He also has to address the issues raised by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) who have placed Nigeria in its ‘grey list’.
Nigeria has abundant natural resources and is Africa’s largest oil producer but corruption, lack of refineries and theft of crude oil are issues which Tinubu will have to tackle during his presidency.
(with inputs from the Punch, Daily Post Nigeria)
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