Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the Nigeria President-Elect

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has declared the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as the president-elect in the general elections held in Nigeria on February 25, 2023.

Who Won the Nigeria Presidential Election in 2023?

Nigeria’s ruling party candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has won the 2023 election with 36% of the vote. The 70-year-old veteran politician got 36% of the vote, official results announced on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, in Abuja, Nigeria.

Relative newcomer, Peter Obi who came in third with 25% of the vote as against the 29% obtained by the PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, proved that a third force is possible in established duopolies. The election would have gone into a runoff if this had played out in Ghana.

Mr. Tinubu is one of Nigeria’s richest politicians and based his campaign on his record of rebuilding the biggest city, Lagos when he was governor.

He was nevertheless defeated in the city by Mr. Obi, a relative newcomer who mobilized the support of many young people, especially in urban areas, shaking up the country’s two-party system.

About Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu

• Date of Birth: March 29, 1952 (Age 70 as of 2023)
• Graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting – Chicago State University (1979)
• Employed by Mobil Nigeria as an Accountant (1980)
• Senator for Lagos West (5th December 1992 – 17 November 1993)
• 12th Governor of Lagos State (29 May 1999 – 29 May 2007)
• President-elect of Nigeria ( 1st March 2023)

Mr. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu won most other states in his home region of the southwest, where he is known as a “political godfather”. He campaigned for the presidency under the slogan: “It’s my turn”.

President Muhammadu Buhari is stepping down after two terms in office, marked by economic stagnation and growing insecurity around the country – from an Islamist insurgency in the north-east to a nationwide crisis of kidnapping for ransom and separatist attacks in the south-east.

Mr. Tinubu now has the task of solving these problems, among others, in Africa’s most populous nation and biggest oil exporter.

After fighting military rule in Nigeria, escaping into exile, and being one of the founding members of the country’s democracy in 1999, Mr. Tinubu will feel that he was destined to become president.

He was always the favorite to replace Mr. Buhari – whom he helped become president – and the hurdles he has surmounted to get here will make this an even sweeter win for him.

Nigeria 2023 Presidential Election Results, INEC 2023

Data Source: INEC, 2023

The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) is an online live election result Portal introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to display the 2023 general elections in real-time for public view in Nigeria via www.inecelectionresults.ng.