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4 minute readFebruary 28, 202311:19 PM GMT+4Last Updated 4 hours ago
Lagos ex-governor Tinubu has unassailable lead in Nigeria election
By Ahmed Kingimi and Tim Cocks
Summary
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Rivers State results suspended after death threats
Presidential election marred by problems with new technology
Opposition parties have rejected the results as flawed
ABUJA, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Nigeria’s ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu has an unassailable lead in a disputed presidential election held over the weekend, a Reuters tally of provisional results from all 36 states and the federal capital Abuja showed on Tuesday.
Tinubu of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) of outgoing president Muhammadu Buhari got about 35% of the vote, or 8.2 million votes, followed by Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who took a 30% share, or 6.9 million votes
Peter Obi of the Labour Party, an outsider popular with the youth and educated voters, got 26% of the vote, or about 6.1 million votes.
Nigerian electoral law says a candidate can win just by getting more votes than their rivals, provided they get 25% of the vote in at least two-thirds of the 36 states and Abuja, which Tinubu also managed to do.
Tinubu’s potential victory extends the APC’s grip on power in Africa’s top oil producer and most populous nation, though he inherits a litany of problems from Buhari.
Nigeria is struggling with Islamist insurgencies in the northeast, armed attacks, killings and kidnappings, conflict between livestock herders and farmers, cash, fuel and power shortages and perennial corruption that opponents say Buhari’s party has failed to stamp out, despite promises to do so.
Opposition parties rejected the results as the product of a flawed process, which suffered multiple technical difficulties owing to the introduction of new technology by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and on Tuesday called on its chairman Mahmood Yakubu to resign.