By Ammar M. Rajab The Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria has declared the candidate of the All Progressive Pe...
By Ammar M. Rajab
The Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria has declared the candidate of the All Progressive Peoples Party, Bola Ahmad Tinubu winner of the 2023 Presidential election.
Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, was declared the president-elect after the 70-year-old polled 8,794,726 votes to win the 2023 presidential election.
The INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, announced Tinubu as the winner at the International Collation Centre in Abuja during the early hours of Wednesday.
Tinubu won the election ahead of other contenders — the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Atiku Abubakar; the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi; and the New Nigeria Peoples Party candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
The three leading presidential candidates won in 12 states each while Kwankwaso claimed only Kano State.
Tinubu edged Atiku, a former vice president and his closest challenger, with no fewer than 1.8 million votes.
The 2023 presidential election is the first time that Tinubu contested for the nation’s top job. The former senator left office as a two-term governor of Lagos State in 2007 and is credited with leading the coalition that ousted the PDP from power in 2015 and has extended his influence beyond the South-West region in recent years.
Bola Ahmad Tinubu also scored over 25 per cent of the votes cast in 30 states, more than the 24 states constitutionally required.
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria, Prof Mahmud Yakubu who announced the final results on Wednesday in Abuja, said Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party came second in the election with total votes of 6,984,520 while Peter Obi of the Labour Party came a distant third with 6,101,533 votes.
Declaring Tinubu as the winner, the INEC boss said, “That Tinubu Bola Ahmed of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law is hereby declared the winner and returned elected.”
The PDP and more than 9 other parties have rejected the results as the tension continues in the country.
During the collection of the results, the National Collation Agent for the People Democratic Party, Dino Melaye, and other party agents walked out of the International Conference Centre in Abuja over alleged rigging.
They complained about widespread discrepancies in the results of the polls and asked the electoral commission to halt the proceedings at the collation centre and address their complaints.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has shrugged off demands by various stakeholders, including political parties, to pause the ongoing collation and declaration of the results of Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections over allegations of electoral manipulation and compromise.
According to the electoral law, all results would be transmitted at the poll directly to the Commission's central server using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine but the commission felt to do so.
The PDP agent said "Having observed that the Chairman of INEC is determined to rig the elections by making sure that results are not uploaded, by vehemently making a presentation that makes it look as if we are all here to rubber-stamp the fraud cooked between INEC and the APC, we are saying we are not here to rubberstamp the electoral fraud that has been prepared by INEC and the APC.
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