The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has announced the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the 2023 presidential poll in the early hours of Wednesday.
“That Tinubu Bola Ahmed of the APC, having satisfied the requirement of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” Professor Yakubu declared in an announcement at the National collation center.
Tinubu, 70, came out tops in 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states, and secured significant numbers in several other states to claim the highest number of votes — 8,794,726, almost two million votes more than his closest challenger — former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Abubakar, 76, who has now run for president six times, got 6,984,520 votes, while the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, finished the race with 6,101,533.
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, won the polls in 11 states, including the home state of the APC candidate — Lagos. He also came out tops in the nation’s capital Abuja. Abubakar, like Tinubu, was victorious in 12 states.
Rabiu Kwankwaso, the former Kano State Governor and candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), finished fourth, claiming victory in his state — Kano. He secured 1,496,687 votes.