On March 1, 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the final results of the highly anticipated presidential election that took place on February 25, 2023. The announcement was made by the Chairman of the Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, at exactly 4.10 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
The results of the election had been eagerly awaited by Nigerians and the international community, who had been keenly following the events leading up to the election. The electoral process had been marred by violence and accusations of vote rigging, which had led to tensions and fears of unrest in the country.
After several days of collating the results from all 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, INEC declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the presidential election. Tinubu had polled a total of 8,794,726 votes, making him the candidate with the highest number of votes.
Tinubu’s closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), came in second place with 6,984,520 votes. Peter Obi of the Labour Party secured the third position with 6,101,533 votes, while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) came fourth with 1,496,687 votes.
The announcement of Tinubu’s victory was greeted with mixed reactions from Nigerians. Supporters of the APC were overjoyed, celebrating in the streets and expressing their belief that Tinubu’s victory would bring about positive change in the country. However, supporters of the PDP were disappointed and expressed their doubts about the validity of the election results.
The electoral process had been fraught with allegations of irregularities, including reports of vote buying, ballot stuffing, and violence at polling stations. The PDP had accused the APC of rigging the election in their favor, while the APC had accused the PDP of attempting to disrupt the election through violence and intimidation.
Despite the allegations of irregularities, INEC maintained that the election was free and fair, and that the results reflected the will of the Nigerian people. The Commission urged all parties to accept the results and to work together to ensure the peaceful transition of power.
As the country awaits the inauguration of Bola Tinubu as the next president of Nigeria, there are hopes that his administration will bring about positive change and address the challenges facing the country, including insecurity, corruption, and economic instability.
However, there are also concerns that the election results may lead to further divisions and tensions in the country, particularly if the allegations of irregularities are not addressed.
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