Table of Contents
The poll for president of Nigeria was won by the candidate of the ruling party, Bola Tinubu, whom Nigerians woke up to on Wednesday. In addition to thanking his supporters, he made a plea for solidarity with his opponents, who are already calling for a new election in the most populous country in Africa.
The second-and third-place finalists in the weekend election, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, were expected to file a legal challenge in response to the statement made by election officials overnight. Having placed second in the previous election in 2019, Abubakar also questioned the results, though his case was eventually dismissed.
Bola Tinubu
According to official findings, the 70-year-old veteran politician received 37% of the vote. While Abubakar polled 29% and Labour’s Obi 25%.
One of Nigeria’s wealthiest politicians, Mr. Tinubu, based his candidature on his success in rebuilding Lagos, the country’s largest city, while serving as governor.
Nevertheless, Mr. Obi, a relative newcomer who rallied the allegiance of many youngsters, particularly in metropolitan areas, defeated him in the city, upending the two-party system of the nation.
In his home district of the southwest, where he is referred to as a political godfather for assisting in electing others to office, Mr. Tinubu won the majority of the other states.
He ran for president using the Yoruba phrase “Emi lo kan,” which translates to “It’s my time.”
Tinubu won a tight race to succeed Muhammadu Buhari as the next president of Nigeria. Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), stated that having fulfilled the requirements of the law, Tinubu was hereby declared the winner.
Nigerian election
In 1992, when he won a seat as a senator in Lagos, his journey to stardom commenced. He entered a coalition of politicians and civic society to demand new elections after the military government called off the presidential election a year later.
Supporter Adenike Mutiat Abubakar, 43, stated that everyone desires Tinubu because he is the man of the people.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been declared as the winner of Nigeria’s presidential elections, beating out two other prominent candidates. It comes three days after criticism by observers for widespread logistical failings, violence that suppressed the vote and cries from opposition parties of a sham.
For Tinubu, his victory is the culmination of a deeply held ambition.
Over decades, the former two-term governor of Lagos has evolved into a divisive yet towering figure in Nigerian politics. The wealthy, so-called political godfather is a power broker who helped outgoing president Muhammadu Buhari win the presidency in 2015.
Tinubu’s campaign slogan was “emi lo kan” in his native Yoruba — “It’s my turn.” And now it is.
He won just over 36% of the votein one of the most tightly contested polls since the end of military rule. He lost in his home state but won by a clear margin in the rest of the country defeating 76-year-old Atiku Abubakar, a six–time presidential contestant, and 61-year-old Peter Obi, a third–party candidate who galvanized huge support from voters disaffected with the traditional political class.
Many have fiercely contested the results of the vote tally since Saturday’s polls, claiming that it was tainted by corruption and technical issues. The election results were heavily falsified and manipulated according to the major opposition parties in the nation on Tuesday during a joint press conference.
Voters had trouble finding their polling places because of last-minute changes, which were among the logistical issues noted across the nation. One election observer was expelled from a voting location after thugs invaded it, according to Itodo, whose non-profit civic group Yiaga Africa deployed more than 3,800 observers throughout Nigeria.
In Lagos, voters reported being intimidated and having their ballots stifled.
In other cases, voting was postponed or not allowed at all because electoral officials did not appear.
