Tinubu Wins Controversial Nigerian Presidential Election
Nigeria's former Lagos governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has been declared the winner of the country's presidential election. Despite allegations of widespread voter intimidation, suppression, and rigging, the All Progressives Congress candidate won 12 out of 36 states, securing 8,794,726 votes, almost two million more than his closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The election was marred by controversy, violence, and ballot-box snatching in some states during voting on February 25. Despite this, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, announced Tinubu's victory in the early hours of Wednesday at the National Collation Centre in Abuja.
However, the announcement faced criticism from opposition parties, with leaders complaining bitterly that INEC officials were unable to upload election results electronically to the commission’s Results Viewing Portal (IReV). The PDP, LP, and NNPP protested the manual transmission of results, which they said compromised the integrity of the election process.
Prior to the election, Tinubu's choice of another Muslim, Kashim Shettima, as his running mate sparked outrage and drew strong criticism. Questions about his health were also constant throughout the campaign, and there were allegations of crime and corruption, claims which he and his team repeatedly denied.
In addition, prolonged fuel scarcity and the Naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which led to a scarcity of the currency and hardship for Nigerians in the final months of the campaign, left Tinubu and his team with more questions to answer.
Despite these challenges, Tinubu prevailed in a hotly contested and high-stakes election. As he prepares to take office, he faces the daunting task of uniting a divided nation and tackling the many pressing issues facing Nigeria.
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