Declared the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election, ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu won 37% of the vote, according to official results. His main opponent, Atiku Abubakar, won 29% of the vote, while Labor’s Peter Obi won 25%. Despite their disqualification from the ballot and their call for a new election, Tinubu emerged victorious from this competition.
Tinubu is one of Nigeria’s wealthiest politicians and has focused his campaign on his record as a former governor who rebuilt the country’s largest city, Lagos. However, he was beaten in Lagos by Mr. Obi, a newcomer who mobilized the support of many young people in urban areas, thus disrupting the country’s two-party system. Tinubu has won most of the other states in his home region of the Southwest, where he is known as the “political godfather”, who helps place others in office. His campaign for the presidency was carried out under the slogan: “It’s my turn”.
In his acceptance speech, Tinubu called for reconciliation with his opponents: “I take this opportunity to ask my competitors to unite us. It is our only nation. It is a country and we must build it together”. While acknowledging that his competitors had the right to challenge the results in court, he said the election shortcomings were relatively few and had no impact on the outcome of this election.
