Buhari Re-Elected President

The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari, has been declared the winner of the Presidential election held on February 23, 2019.

Buhari, who is the incumbent President, defeated the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, to emerge the winner in the keenly contested poll.

Announcing the final results of the election on Wednesday, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, said President Buhari polled a total of 15,191,847 to defeat his closest rival and the PDP candidate, Atiku, who polled 11,262,978.

From start, Buhari proved to be the man to beat, leading all other candidates and ending with a wide margin of almost four million votes ahead of Atiku, and drawing his largest block of votes from the core Northern states.

The 76-year-old Buhari won in a total of 19 states, scoring the statutory 25 percent of total votes cast in those states, while his main challenger, Atiku, won in 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

With the announced result, President Buhari has satisfied the requirement of the law, which states that to be declared president, a candidate must have a majority of votes cast nationwide and at least 25 percent of votes cast in two-thirds of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The announcement of Buhari as winner brings to an end six days of an electoral process that began effectively after a week of postponement, prompted by logistical challenges in the distribution of electoral materials, according to INEC.

The shift in the date of the Presidential and National Assembly elections to February 23 from February 16 had triggered outrage across the country, heightening tension among the citizens and the political parties, with the ruling APC and main opposition PDP accusing each other of colluding with INEC to influence the outcome of the elections.

It also generated concern among local and international observer missions, casting doubt about the credibility of the process.

The fears were soon dispelled as INEC stepped up its communication with stakeholders, offering the assurance that it was set to deliver a free, fair and credible election.

Buhari’s victory comes amid protest by the main opposition party against what it describes as lack of level playing field in the run-up to the presidential election, as well as observed lapses in the electoral process, including alleged over-voting, vote buying and other forms of electoral manipulations.

SN	PARTY	TOTAL VOTES POLLED
1	A	19,209
2	AA	14,380
3	AAC	33,953
4	AAP	8,902
5	ABP	4,523
6	ACD	11,325
7	ACPN	7,223
8	ADC	97,874
9	ADP	54,930
10	AGA	4,689
11	AGAP	3,071
12	ANDP	3,104
13	ANN	16,779
14	ANP	3,586
15	ANRP	4,340
16	APA	36,866
17	APC	15,191,847 ….. WINNER
18	APDA	26,558
19	APGA	66,851
20	APM	26,039
21	APP	3,585
22	ASD	2,146
23	AUN	1,092
24	BNPP	1,649
25	CAP	1,111
26	CC	2,391
27	CNP	1,874
28	DA	2,769
29	DPC	5,242
30	DPP	14,483
31	FRESH	4,554
32	FJP	4,174
33	GDPN	41,852
34	GPN	4,924
35	HDP	1,663
36	ID	1,845
37	JMPP	1,853
38	KP	1,911
39	LM	1,438
40	LP	5,074
41	MAJA	2,651
42	MMN	14,540
43	MPN	2,752
44	MPN	2,752
45	NAC	2,279
46	NCMP	1,378
47	NCP	3,799
48	NDCP	1,192
49	NDLP	1,588
50	NEPP	1,524
51	NFD	4,096
52	NIP	2,248
53	NNPP	6,111
54	NPC	10,081
55	NRM	6,229
56	NUP	5,323
57	PCP	110,196
58	PDP	11,262,978
59	PPA	21,822
60	PPC	8,979
61	PPN	4,622
62	PT	2,613
63	RAP	2,972
64	RBNP	1,792
65	RP	2,388
66	SDP	34,746
67	SNC	28,680
68	SNP	3,941
69	UDP	3,970
70	UP	1,561
71	UPN	1,631
72	WTPN	732
73	YES	2,394
74	YPP	21,886

The PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, had declared that the results as being announced by INEC in Abuja were unacceptable by the party.

The party called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) to halt the collation and announcement of results, insisting that the outcomes were not valid.

Also echoing the PDP National Chairman in a statement on Tuesday, the Deputy Director General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Tanimu Turaki, said, “We have evidence from the smart card reader accreditation data that what is being announced by INEC has been seriously tampered with and manipulated.”

He stated further, “The PDP predicates its demand on available evidence to the effect that data from the card readers are being reconfigured to suit the manipulations, rigging, and over-voting already carried out during the election in some states by the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

The election this year is the sixth since Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999. Buhari was first elected President in 2015, on his fourth attempt to lead the country.