Nigeria’s ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu wins presidential election: Nigeria’s elections are entering the decisive stage of the presidential race, culminating in the victory of the country’s ruling party candidate in Saturday’s presidential elections in Africa’s largest country by population, according to the final official results that were released on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. The ruling party that has led Nigeria for two presidential terms won.
National Electoral Commission announces results
Nigeria’s ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu wins presidential election.
Nigeria’s elections are entering the decisive stage of the presidential race, culminating in the victory of the country’s ruling party candidate in Saturday’s presidential elections in Africa’s largest country by population, according to the final official results that were released on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. The ruling party that has led Nigeria for two presidential terms won.
The National Electoral Commission said Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress party, received 8.8 million votes, ahead of his two main rivals, Ateeq Abu Bakr, the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (6.9 million votes), and Peter Obi, the candidate of the Workers’ Party (6.1 million votes).
In addition to leading nationally, Tinubu also won more than 25 per cent of the vote in at least two-thirds of the country’s states (at least 24 of the 36 states) in addition to the Abuja metropolitan area, which is a prerequisite for winning the presidency.
More than 87 million voters cast their ballots on Saturday to choose Nigeria’s next president from among 18 candidates, and the presidential race has been close between three candidates, with Paula Tinubu so far submitting more than 4.1 million votes, compared with 3 million votes for Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party.
Opposition calls for cancellation of presidential results
Nigeria’s ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu wins presidential election. On Tuesday, February 28, 2023, Nigeria’s two main opposition parties demanded the cancellation of the presidential elections held last Saturday and the organization of a “new ballot”, denouncing the “massive manipulation of its results”.
Representatives of the People’s Democratic Party and the Workers’ Party told a joint press conference that “serious damage to the electoral process has been detected. We have lost confidence in the entire electoral process”.
And they called for new elections, following the “great manipulation” of the results of Saturday’s elections, saying that the results of the elections that were previously known “do not reflect the will and aspirations of Nigerians” as expressed in the ballot box.
They also called for a “vote of no confidence” in the head of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmoud Yakubu, and called on the current president, Muhammadu Buhari, to “fulfill the promises he made to leave a legacy of fair, transparent and credible elections to free Nigerians.”
Anticipating international protests and demands for acceptance of results
An EU observer mission concluded that although the elections were held on time, “a lack of transparency and operational failures reduced confidence in the process. The mission said election day was marked by delays in the deployment and opening of polling stations. It added in a statement Monday that the online results upload system “did not work as expected and presidential election results forms began to appear on the portal very late on election day.”
However, the head of the electoral commission, Mahmoud Yacobo, rejected allegations of irregularities and said the results had been verified by election officials. Representatives of Nigeria’s ruling party have accused opposition parties of inciting violence and called on security forces to rein them in.
Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden called for a “peaceful and transparent electoral process” in Nigeria’s presidential election, saying Nigerians deserved the opportunity to choose their future freely and impartially. In a statement, Biden welcomed the peace agreement signed by political parties and presidential candidates, saying that by signing “this pledge, the parties and candidates have committed to accept the results of the elections to be announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission” and to support the peaceful transfer of power.
Biden also urged voters to remain peaceful and patient with the vote-counting process, and political parties and candidates to keep their promises.
Nigeria’s ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu wins presidential election
Several countries have welcomed the peace agreement signed by presidential candidates and their political parties in Nigeria ahead of the presidential elections scheduled for February 25. The diplomatic missions of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Japan and Norway have expressed their full support for all efforts that will ensure the Nigerian people’s freedom of choice at the ballot box.
“We believe that the safe, fair and credible completion of the electoral process is vital to the stability and consolidation of democracy in Nigeria,” the countries’ diplomatic missions said in a joint statement. The joint statement called on Nigerian officials to respect human rights and democratic values, calling on the security services to protect citizens and the electoral process.