Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Former Governor of Lagos State, who was long heralded as the “father of modern Lagos”, has won a close race to be elected as the next Nigerian president.
Tinubu having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected.”
Mahmood Yakubu-chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced result on Wednesday
Bola Tinubu polled 8.8 million votes, to beat former-associate-turned-foe Atiku Abubakar, who polled 6.9 million and stun the favorite-to-win Peter Obi, who got 6.1 million votes, to emerge president hours after three competitor parties called for a cancellation of what they called a “sham” of an election.
This is a serious mandate, I hereby accept it. To serve you… To work with you and make Nigeria great. I appeal to my fellow contestants to let us team together. It is the only nation we have. It is one country that we must build together.”
Tinubu said as supporters cheered “Jagaban”
Bola Tinubu noticed as the most influential political godfather in current Nigerian history failed in his home state of Lagos to Obi but was ultimately successful in his attempt to become Nigeria’s fifth president since the return of democracy in 1999.
His rise to fame started in 1992 when he was elected senator in Lagos. When the presidential elections were canceled a year after by the military government, he joined a team of politicians and civil society to call for new elections.
He has done it before, and we know that he will do better than what he did in Lagos. He’s the man of the people, so that’s why everybody wants him.”
Adenike Mutiat Abubakar-a local supporter
Tinubu’s masterwork came in 2015 when his Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) joined with Buhari’s Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to form the All Progressives Congress (APC) that ousted current president Goodluck Jonathan.
Political analysts guessed it was only a matter of time before Tinubu launched an attempt to claim the presidency for himself, resulting in the “Emi lokan” (Yoruba for “it’s my turn”) slogan that came to describe his movement.
On Tuesday, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and African Democratic Congress (CDC) had directed a press conference calling for the cancellation of the election results, saying the voting was a “sham” and simply “vote allocation and not collation”.
