If Tinubu’s result is confirmed, the largest African democracy will have passed one of its most important tests since military rule ended in 1999. His victory come true because of main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) splitedthree ways and because his party had the strongest push to get people out to vote.
Tinubu’s victory extends the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party’s grip on power in Africa’s top oil producer and most populous nation, though he inherits a litany of problems from President Muhammadu Buhari.
Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has declared Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the presidential election held on February 25, 2023.
Tinubu, who defeated 17 other candidates, scored a total of 8,794,726 votes, the highest of all the candidates, thus meeting the first constitutional requirement to be declared the winner. He also scored over 25% of the votes cast in 30 states, more than the 24 states constitutionally required.
The 12 states won by Tinubu are Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Benue, Rivers, Borno, Zamfara, Jigawa, Ondo, Kogi and Niger.
Atiku of the PDP won Taraba, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Kaduna, Sokoto, Yobe, Bayelsa, Kebbi, Bauchi, Gombe and Katsina States.
Obi won the following states of Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Anambra, Abia, Delta, Edo, FCT, Plateau, Nasarawa, Lagos and Cross River. (NAN)
His main rivals were former vice president Atiku Abubakar from the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi from the Labour Party (LP) got 29% and 25% of the votes cast. However, Obi announced he would challenge the outcome of presidential elections. Candidates who want to submit legal challenges have 21 days following the announcement of results to bring their case to the courts. He called on his rivals and their supporters to “join hands” with him, urging them to “come in so that we may begin the task of rebuilding our national home together.”
The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party have claimed there is a lack of transparency with the new electronic voting system and staged a walkout at the National Collation Centre in Abuja.
At the heart of the dispute is the newly introduced electronic voting system, known as Bvas, which was supposed to make the manipulation of results more difficult and the polls more transparent. The widespread inability of electoral staff to upload results from polling units to Inec’s server helped fuel allegations of a conspiracy.
Four opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour, accused Inec of violating the Electoral Act by failing to transmit results to the IReV portal. However, opposition parties, have so far not offered any concrete proof to back up their allegations.
INEC’s chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu assured the Nigerian people that the process of collation and announcement would be transparent, even as INEC explained that the challenges the commission was encountering with the transmission of results were not due to sabotage of its system.
There were also videos on social media showing voter intimidation and ballot-snatching, and violence at some polling stations, especially in the biggest state, Lagos – won by Mr Obi in a blow to Mr Tinubu – and Rivers state, which he won. International observer missions from the NDI-IRI and the EU have described the process as lacking transparency.
Produced results are significantly different from those of past polls, with this being the first time that a president takes office with less than 50% of the vote and where four candidates won over a million votes.
However, an an election unlikely will be invalidated, cause opposition couldn’t prove that the national electoral body didn’t follow the law and acted in ways that could have changed the result. The Supreme Court of Nigeria has never overturned a presidential election, though court challenges are common, including by Mr. Buhari, who doggedly fought his past election losses for months in vain.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, 70, Yoruba, sometimes referred to as the political “godfather”.
He worked in the oil sector before venturing into politics. He was elected into the Nigerian senate in 1992 and served until the next year when the military seized power. He fled the country in 1994 after the pro-democracy group he co-founded failed to sway the military to relinquish power.
Tinubu was a two-term governor of Lagos State and a former Senator of Federal Republic of Nigeria. Considered by fans and followers as an astute and pragmatic strategist, who has the sagacity to excel in party politics. He promised Nigerians a new deal of progressive leadership through his mantra of “renewed hope”.
He wields significant influence in the southwest and has been known for exerting power from behind the scenes and using his extensive network to back candidates for office. He is known to have played a role in the merger of different parties to form the All-Progressives Congress (APC) in 2014 and the subsequent emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari as the party’s candidate and eventual President in 2015. Tinubu’s support helped outgoing leader Muhammadu Buhari win two terms in office, in 2015 and 2019. Tinubu has a very aggressive, very solid political machineю
The visible trembling of hands and slur speeches have generated speculations that it could be early stages of Parkinson’s disease. The president-elect has been accused of corruption, money laundering, and operating more than a dozen foreign bank accounts but was never charged and denies wrongdoing. He has interests in many sectors including real estate and media, viation, tax consultancy, hotels. Tinubu Net Worth 2023 is expected to be $32.7 billion.
Tinubu, has been nursing the ambition to be Nigeria’s president, since 1999. In January 2022, he made known his ambition to be elected as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. So, for Tinubu, his victory is the culmination of a deeply held ambition.
Tinubu is expected to deal with a long list of problems including security, a currency crisis, fuel, and power shortages, and deeply entrenched corruption. He has also to get on with the serious task of uniting a country fractured along religious, ethnic and generational lines. Tinubu will have to strive to win the support of the larger majority who preferred one of the other candidates, particularly the youth, the Christian groups that were opposed to his Muslim-Muslim ticket and Igbos in the South East who again feel denied the presidency. He has to contend with challenges to his legitimacy, so he’ll need to ensure an inclusive government and focus firmly on rebuilding national cohesion.
Bola Tinubu, told that he would work assiduously to advance the legacies of President Muhammadu Buhari. The APC candidate also promised to prudently manage the nation’s resources and increase the revenue-generation capacity as he did when he was Lagos governor.
Once he’s inaugurated, he will have to lead his administration in five key focus areas.
1. He must restore the waning public faith in government by building legitimacy.
2. he must demonstrate the new administration has the capacity to govern effectively.
3. his government should be concerned with protecting people from all forms of vulnerabilities, including political, social and economic.
4. he must mitigate the material drivers of corruption and criminality by reducing poverty, unemployment, underemployment and inequality.
5. Government institutions must undertake to serve the interests of ordinary Nigerians.
The task before the incoming government is to fulfil people’s expectations by responding to their legitimate yearnings and aspirations. And this is beyond electioneering.
The administration must get its priorities right. Usually in Nigeria, governments come to power without any clear understanding of what it takes to govern, and what specific concerns of governance to pursue. So, the incoming administration must strive to restore the waning public faith in government through altruistic leadership. The welfare of the people must come first in its policies and actions.
Human security and sustainable development should be the focus.
The material drivers of corruption and criminality should be mitigated by reducing poverty, unemployment, underemployment and inequality. The wage structure and package of the government and corporate workers should be enhanced in the light of economic realities.
Government institutions should perform better to deliver the common good by undertaking to serve the interest of the populace in their policies and programmes.
In order to address the concerns of the youth, the septuagenarian Tinubu will need to turn his immediate attention to the economy.
However, there are doubts that Tinubu can rescue a system in which he has been a prime actor – as well as a benefactor.
In the twilight of the arguably unpopular administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the travails of the nation do not seem to be abating.
It is doubtful that Tinubu represents the popular change that the country needs. Or that his tenure offers a progressive departure from the status quo that many Nigerians were angling for. This is because he is very much part of the country’s political establishment.
The 2023 elections and transition offers Nigeria an opportunity to reposition itself for good governance, sustainable security and development.
But the expectation is that the incoming President will save the legacies of Buhari’s administration.
