The presidential
candidate of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has
been declared the winner of Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election.
Mr. Tinubu, a former
two-term governor of Lagos State, garnered 36% of the total votes cast as
against his main rivals Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi who polled 29% and 25 %
respectively.
In what has been
described as the most disputed presidential election in Nigeria’s political history,
Mr. Tinubu won most of the states in his home region of the south-west, where
he is known as a "political godfather."
He was nevertheless
defeated in his home state, Lagos, by Mr. Obi, a relative newcomer who
mobilised the support of many young people, especially in urban areas, shaking
up the country’s two-party system.
In his acceptance speech,
Mr. Tinubu called for reconciliation with his opponents.
"I take this
opportunity to appeal to my fellow contestants to let us team up together. It
is the only nation we have. It is one country and we must build it together,"
he said in a televised speech to the nation.
According to him,
although his opponents have the right to challenge the results in court, the
lapses in the election “were relatively few in number and were immaterial to
affect the outcome of this election".
President Muhammadu
Buhari is stepping down after two terms in office, marked by economic
stagnation and growing insecurity around the country – from an Islamist
insurgency in the north-east to a nationwide crisis of kidnapping for ransom
and separatist attacks in the south-east.
Mr. Tinubu now has the
task of solving these problems, among others, in Africa’s most populous nation
and biggest oil exporter.
Mr. Tinubu fought for
democracy under Nigeria’s military regimes, escaped into exile and became one
of the founding members of the country’s democracy in 1999.
AEP
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