Nigeria’s ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu won the most presidential votes in Africa’s most populous country on Wednesday, giving him an almost certain victory, according to the full official results.
Mr Tinubu of the Progressives Congress (APC) won 8.8 million votes, ahead of his main rivals Atiku Abubakar of the PDP (6.9 million votes) and Peter Obi of the Labor Party (6.1 million votes). ), according to a state-by-state tally by AFP.
The National Electoral Commission (INEC) has yet to confirm that he wins 25% of the vote in at least two thirds of the 36 states of the federation as well as the capital territory Abuja, in order to be able to declare him the winner at the end of one of the elections. contested contests in Nigeria’s democratic history.
More than 87 million voters were called to the polls on Saturday and the ballot, whose turnout is not yet known, was generally peaceful. But many observers have criticized delays in counting and major failures in the electronic transfer of results.
On Tuesday, even before the announcement of the final results, the opposition called for the cancellation of the election, denouncing “massive” fraud. The INEC for its part swept aside the “unfounded and irresponsible” accusations, adding that the candidates were “free to go to court” if they considered themselves wronged.
Aged 70, Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos and nicknamed “the godfather” because of his immense political influence, should succeed incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, 80, who is stepping down after two terms as required by the Constitution.
He will have the heavy task, for four years, of redressing the English-speaking giant weighed down by a flagging economy, recurrent violence by armed groups and bandits, as well as a general impoverishment of the population.
With its 216 million inhabitants, Nigeria should become the third most populous country in the world by 2050, while West Africa is threatened by a strong democratic decline and the spread of jihadist violence.