The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday, March 1, declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, winner of Saturday’s presidential election.
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The Chairman of the Commission and the returning officer for the 2023 Presidential Election, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who announced the final result at exactly 4:10 am, after days of collating results from across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), said Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes.
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former Vice President Atiku Abubakar finished second with 6,984,520 votes.
Labour Party (LP) candidate Peter Obi followed closely with 6,101,533 votes, while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) had 1,496,687 votes.
Tinubu raked in 12 states, Atiku won 12 states, Obi won 11 states plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) while Kwankwaso won one state.
After announcing the result, the INEC chairman said a Certificate of Return for the President and Vice President would be presented by 3:00 pm on Wednesday at the National Collation Centre.
States Won
Tinubu: Rivers, Borno, Jigawa, Zamfara, Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo and Ogun states.
Atiku: Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Gombe, Yobe, Bauchi, Adamawa and Taraba states. He also won in Osun, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa states.
Obi: Edo, Cross River, Delta, Lagos, FCT, Plateau, Imo, Ebonyi, Nasarawa, Anambra, Abia and Enugu states.
Kwankwaso: Kano State.
In his acceptance speech, Tinubu said: “I am profoundly humbled to serve as the 16th President of our beloved country. This is a shining moment in the life of any man and an affirmation of our democratic existence.
“I take this opportunity to appeal to my fellow contestants to let us team up together. It is the only nation we have. It is one country and we must build together.”
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