Nigeria: Bola Tinubu, candidate of the ruling party, wins the presidential election
Ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu and his wife Oluremi Tinubu on voting day.
Ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu was declared the winner of the election on Wednesday. Presidential election in Nigeria, after a poll already disputed by the opposition, which had given rise to immense hopes for change in Africa's most populous country.
According to the Electoral Commission (Inec), Mr. Tinubu of the Progressives Congress (APC) garnered more than 8.8 million votes, winning one of the most contested elections in Nigeria's democratic history. , facing his two main competitors.
Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the main opposition party (the PDP which ruled the country from 1999 to 2015), collected 6.9 million votes.
Peter Obi of the Labor Party (LP), whose popularity with young people gave new impetus to this campaign, won 6.1 million votes.
Labor Party candidate Peter Obi and his running mate Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed (left) wave to the crowd during a rally in Ibadan, November 23, 2022. (File photo)
Tinubu Bola Ahmed, of the APC, having met the requirements of the law, is declared the winner and elected, the president of the APC announced at 4:20 a.m. local time. Inec, Mahmood Yakubu, in front of the press in Abuja.
To win in the first round, he needed not only a majority of the vote, but also 25% of the vote in at least two thirds of the 36 states of the federation as well as the capital territory Abuja.
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Aged 70, Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos (south-west), is nicknamed the godfather because of his immense political influence. He is to succeed incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, 80, who steps down after two terms as required by the Constitution. Numerous accusations of corruption punctuate his career, but he has never been convicted and has always denied them.
Incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari. (File photo)
This election is a crucial meeting. Nigeria – 216 million inhabitants – should become the third most populous country in the world by 2050, in a West Africa threatened by a strong democratic decline and the spread of jihadist violence.
The continent's leading economy has become a global cultural power, thanks in particular to Afrobeats, a musical genre that is setting the planet ablaze with stars like Burna Boy and Wizkid.
But M Tinubu will mostly inherit a myriad of problems. For four years, he will have the heavy task of redressing the English-speaking giant, weighed down by a flagging economy, recurrent violence by armed groups and bandits, as well as a general impoverishment of the population.
As his victory was announced, dozens of supporters gathered in Abuja cheered and danced. He had won before and we know he will do better than what he did in Lagos, 43-year-old Adenike Mutiat Abubakar said. He's the man of the people, that's why everyone wants him.
Long given a big favorite in this election, in particular thanks to the national base of the ruling party and its fortune, this Yoruba of Muslim faith has nevertheless seen his lead shrink as the campaign progresses.
Officials examine documents at a vote collection center that was stormed by unidentified people earlier in the day in Alimosho. (File photo)
Firstly because the person of Peter Obi, a 61-year-old former governor praised for his integrity, has largely won over a youth eager for change, tired of the aging and reputedly corrupt elite that governs it.
And then because very serious shortages of banknotes and gasoline, several weeks before the election, aggravated the already great anger of Nigerians against the government, with its disastrous results , between explosion of insecurity and the cost of living.
More than 87 million voters were called to the polls on Saturday and the vote, whose turnout is not yet known, was generally calm.< /p>
But following delays in counting and major failures in the electronic transfer of results, the parties of Mr. Abubakar and Mr. Obi accused the ;APC of massive fraud.
Just hours before the results were announced, they denounced a sham election, demanding its immediate cancellation and a new ballot.
Their parties also questioned the independence of the Electoral Commission, which in turn lambasted unfounded accusations. She added that candidates were free to go to court if they felt aggrieved.
Posters of ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his running mate Kashim Shettima, in Lagos on January 13, 2023. (File photo)
Since the return of democracy in 1999, Nigeria has held seven national elections, almost all of which have been contested.
Many foreign observers harshly criticized the lack of transparency in the poll. The disappointment promises to be great for the supporters of the opposition and in particular of Peter Obi, who believed until the end in the possible victory of their candidate, embodying in their eyes the rupture and the ;advent of a fairer society.
Several analysts, however, doubted the ability of Mr. Obi, an Igbo from the south-east, to meet the conditions required by the Constitution to win, namely to obtain a quarter of the vote in two thirds of the States.
Community voting remains important in Nigeria, which has more than 250 ethnic groups, polarized between a predominantly southern Christian and a predominantly Muslim, more densely populated north.
The United Nations issued an appeal for calm on Tuesday evening, asking candidates and their supporters to refrain from any behavior that could undermine the electoral process and peace and stability.
