Nigeria elections: President Buhari emerges victorious
President Buhari has been announced as the winner of the presidential elections held this past Saturday
Nigeria’s electoral commission has declared incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari the winner of the 2019 presidential elections.
The announcement by the Independent National Electoral Commission was made at 4.30am local time.
There were 74 candidates contesting for the presidency, but the race was, by all accounts, between Pres. Buhari and Mr. Atiku Abubakar of the PDP party.
According to the announced results, Pres. Buhari had 15,191,847 votes in his favor, or 56% of the votes cast. Mr. Abubakar on the other hand had 11,262,978 votes cast for him, or 41%.
To be declared winner, one has to also receive at least a quarter of the votes cast in two thirds of the subnational states (36) and the federal capital territory (Abuja). Pres. Buhari beat other candidates in 19 states.
Mr. Abubakar won in 17 states and Abuja.
The pattern of wins shows that Pres. Buhari had the strongest support in the northern states, and the southwestern states. Mr. Abubakar received his greatest support from the southern states.
Mr. Abubakar is challenging the results INEC has announced.
Even before the results were announced, he had called for their announcement to be halted until turnout information was available. He also claimed that smart card readers had been manipulated. The smart card readers are used to validate the details on the permanent voter’s card. The goal is to eliminate impersonation and multiple voting. Mr. Abubakar has gone so far as to demand fresh elections in Borno, Zamfara, Nasarawa and Yobe, states that were won by Pres. Buhari.
“We will explore all options including the belief that the legal process in Nigeria is one of the ways to resolve issues,” said Osita Chidoka, a PDP representative.
The opposition must however wait for the official results to be declared, as the results available are preliminary.
By Matengo Chwanya
Africa Global News Publication
