President Muhammadu Buhari has been re-elected in a keenly contested 2019 Nigeria’s Presidential election.
Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), made the pronouncement at the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja.
According to him, President Buhari of the All Progressive Congress (APC) garnered total votes of 15,191,847 from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the 36 States in the country to defeat the former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 11,262978 votes.
The election was a two horse race between, Muhammadu Buhari of APC and Atiku Abubakar, PDP, pulling crowds and votes in the six geo-political zones of the country. While the President Buhari enjoyed the support of states in the North-East, North Central, North-West and few from South-West; Alhaji Abubakar gained incredible support from South East, South-South and some from South-West and North. In the end, the incumbent President won the election by a margin of 3,928,869 votes.
In his gratitude message to Nigerians, President Buhari promised that the new administration will intensify efforts in security, restructuring of the economy and fighting corruption.
“We have laid down the foundation and we are committed to seeing matters to the end. We will strive to strengthen our unity and inclusiveness so that no section or group will feel left behind or left out,” he stated.
While thanking millions of volunteers, self-appointed overseers, canvassers, agents, escorts and sentries who sacrificed so much of their time and resources to ensure success of the election, he expressed his sadness over the grievous loss of lives during the election and vowed that security agencies will step up their efforts to protect voters in the forthcoming State elections.
President Buhari said: “Although Saturday’s elections were relatively peaceful, troublemakers in a handful of states attempted to disrupt an otherwise orderly process. Security agencies will bring to justice all those arrested in the process. I would like to commend our security agencies, as severely overstretched as they are, for handling the difficult task of securing the country during the election period.”
Neighboring Countries Presidents congratulate PMB
Few minutes after INEC pronounced President Buhari as the winner of the 2019 elections, three Presidents from the West African had sent congratulatory messages to the Presidency.
According to Femi Adesina, a Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, ”the Presidents are President Nana Koffi-Addo of Ghana, Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic and Macky Sall of Senegal, who himself just won re-election for a second term.”
“The Presidents felicitated with President Buhari, saying his reelection was a demonstration of the confidence Nigerians had in him and wishing him greater exploits.”
Democracy will not be emasculated in Nigeria:
The flag-bearer of the main opposition party, Atiku Abubakar has however refused to concede defeat and congratulate President Buhari as he declared that the February 23 polls were not free and fair. According to him, there were “manifest and premeditated” malpractices in many states which negate the results announced. He, therefore, promised to seek justice through democratic means by heading to court.
He said; “With regards to the Presidential elections that took place on February 23, 2019, it is clear that there were manifest and premeditated malpractices in many states which negate the results announced. The militarization of the electoral process is a disservice to our democracy and a throwback to the jackboot era of military dictatorship.
“If I had lost in a free and fair election, I would have called the victor within seconds of my being aware of his victory to offer not just my congratulations, but my services to help unite Nigeria by being a bridge between the North and the South. However, in my democratic struggles for the past three decades, I have never seen our democracy so debased as it was on Saturday, February 23, 2019. It is sad to see those who trampled on democracy thumping their noses down on the Nigerian people. Consequently, I hereby reject the result of the February 23, 2019, sham election and will be challenging it in court,” Alhaji Abubakar submitted.
