ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Election officials declared Bola Tinubu the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election Wednesday, keeping the ruling party in power in Africa’s most populous nation and raising the specter of protests by opposition supporters who already have called for the vote to be voided.
Tinubu, 70, the former governor of Lagos state, appealed for reconciliation with his rivals in a pre-dawn victory speech in the capital, Abuja. The running mate of one opposition candidate, though, signaled a court challenge was imminent.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and one of the continent’s top oil producers, has seen deadly violence erupt after previous presidential elections. Tinubu urged Nigerians to unite behind his administration after he takes office on May 29.
“I take this opportunity to appeal to my fellow contestants to let us team up together,” he said in a speech broadcast live on television. “It is the only nation we have. It is one country and we must build together.”
Tinubu, though, received only 37% of the votes or nearly 8.8 million, the first time that a president takes office in Nigeria with less than 50% of the vote, analysts say. Main opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar won 29% with almost 7 million, and third-place finisher Obi took 25% with about 6.1 million, according to official results.
Hours after the election result was announced by the electoral body, Obi’s running mate told reporters in Abuja that they will challenge the outcome in court on the basis that it didn’t follow the provisions of Nigeria’s electoral law.
Much of Nigeria remained calm Wednesday afternoon amid fears of protests by opposition supporters. In the Kubwa area of Abuja, Tinubu supporters flooded the streets, singing and dancing in excitement. But nearby one Obi supporter expressed her dismay.