Bola Tinubu wins the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria.

Bola Tinubu wins the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria.

Bola Tinubu, a candidate for the ruling party (APC), has been named the victor of Nigeria's contested presidential election.

According to official findings, the 70-year-old experienced lawmaker received 37% of the vote.

Peter Obi of Labour received 25% of the vote, while his major competitor Atiku Abubakar received 29%. Both parties had already criticised the election as fraudulent and called for a new one.

One of Nigeria's wealthiest politicians, Mr. Tinubu, centred his campaign on his success in rebuilding Lagos, the country's largest metropolis, while serving as governor.

Yet, Mr. Obi, a relative newcomer who rallied the support of many young people, particularly in urban areas, beat him in the city, upending the two-party structure of the nation.

Mr Tinubu won most other states in his home region of the south-west, where he is known as a "political godfather" - who helps put others into office.

He campaigned for the presidency under the slogan: "It's my turn".

In his acceptance speech, Mr Tinubu called for reconciliation with his opponents.

"I take this opportunity to appeal to my fellow contestants to let us team up together. It is the only nation we have. It is one country and we must build it together," he said in a televised speech to the nation.

He said that they had the right to challenge the results in court but said that the lapses in the election "were relatively few in number and were immaterial to affect the outcome of this election".

After two years in government defined by economic stagnation and escalating insecurity throughout the nation, including an Islamic insurgency in the north-east, a national problem of kidnapping for ransom, and separatist assaults in the south-east, President Muhammadu Buhari is stepping down.

In the most populous and significant oil exporting country in Africa, Mr. Tinubu now has the responsibility of addressing these issues as well as others.

Mr. Tinubu would believe that he was meant to be president after opposing military dictatorship in Nigeria, making his way to exile, and becoming one of the foundational figures of the country's democracy in 1999.

He was always expected to succeed Mr. Buhari, whom he assisted in electing as president, and the challenges he overcame to get here would make this victory much sweeter for him.

He triumphed in the party primary despite not being predicted to do so.

Many predicted that his choice of a Muslim running partner would be problematic, yet it was not.

In the past, all major parties divided their presidential ticket between a Muslim from the north and a Christian from the south in order to win support from a wide range of the 210 million-person country.

He will now need to demonstrate his ability to get things done right away and that he is still the same powerful force behind the development of contemporary Lagos, Nigeria's commercial centre.

The election results demonstrate that Mr. Tinubu, affectionately referred to by his fans as "Jagaban," will now focus on uniting a nation that is fragmenting along regional and religious lines.

While he achieved the 25% threshold in two-thirds of Nigeria's 36 states to demonstrate that he was widely recognised, the manner of the victory points to the lack of a really national party.

As the Peoples’ Democratic Party's popularity declined in its northern strongholds, Mr. Obi won in states with a majority of Christians and erstwhile PDP strongholds.

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