INEC Declares Tinubu Winner of Nigeria’s Presidential Election

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday morning declared Mr Bola Tinubu as the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election conducted on February 25 in what has been regarded as one of the most keenly contested elections in a generation.

Mr Tinubu, who ran on the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) platform, scored 35 per cent of 24.97 million votes cast, 8,794,726 votes, beating Mr Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).

Mr Atiku polled a total of 6,984,520 votes in the election, while Mr Obi came third in the election with a total of 6,101,533 votes, as Mr Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP came fourth with 1,496,687 votes.

INEC Chairman, Mr Mahmood Yakubu, who announced the final results in the early hours said a Certificate of Return for the President and Vice President will be presented by 3 pm on Wednesday at the National Collation Centre, Abuja.

The trio of Messrs Tinubu, Atiku and Obi won in 12 states while Mr Kwankwaso won only in Kano but constitutionally, Mr Tinubu scored over 25 per cent of the votes cast in 30 states, more than the 24 states required by the law.

Giving a breakdown, Mr Tinubu won the election in Rivers, Borno, Jigawa, Zamfara, Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo and Ogun states.

Mr Atiku won in Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Gombe, Yobe, Bauchi, Adamawa and Taraba states. He also won in Osun, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa states.

Mr Obi won in Edo, Cross River, Delta, Lagos, FCT, Plateau, Imo, Ebonyi, Nasarawa, Anambra, Abia and Enugu states, while Mr Kwankwaso won in only Kano State.