Muhammadu Buhari Has Won Nigeria's Presidential Elections
Muhammadu Buhari will be serving a second term in office.
In the early hours of this morning, the electoral commission announced that 76-year-old Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress secured 56% of the vote. Buhari defeated his rival Atiku Abubakar of the People's Democratic Party by 4 million votes. However, opposition parties have alleged that poll rigging, electoral malpractice as well as violence, resulted in voting irregularities.
After announcing that he would be running for re-election in the 2019 presidential elections, many Nigerians were not elated by the news and expressed their sentiments on social media. They felt that Buhari needed to make room for younger blood and that it was time for him to gracefully step down.
Speaking on his victory today, Buhari said:
"The new administration will intensify its efforts in security, restructuring the economy and fighting corruption. We will strive to strengthen our unity and inclusiveness so that no section or group will feel left behind, or left out."
Watch the electoral commission's announcement below:
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After the elections were postponed for a week, just hours before voting was set to begin, it is a relief that the results have finally been announced. At least 47 Nigerians were killed across the country due to election violence.
However, the People's Democratic Party, has cited poll rigging, vote buying and the altering of voter data and wants the results for at least two states to be rerun. This may very well lead to an official and legal challenge of the election results and Buhari's win.
International observers, however, stated that the irregularities were not enough to change the overall results.