Muhammadu Buhari was on Wednesday re-elected Nigeria’s President after a delayed poll that angered voters and raised political temperatures, but the Opposition immediately vowed to challenge the “sham” result in court.
It was the second victory at the ballot box for Mr. Buhari, a one-time military ruler who was first elected in 2015 to lead Africa’s most-populous nation and top oil producer. With ballots counted in all of Nigeria’s 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Buhari triumphed with some 15.2 million votes over his nearest rival Atiku Abubakar, who trailed by nearly four million votes.
“Muhammadu Buhari... is hereby declared winner and is returned elected,” Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) announced early on Wednesday.
Rigging claims
However, Mr. Abubakar rejected the result of the vote, which has been marred by claims of rigging and corruption.
“I hereby reject the result of the February 23, 2019 sham election and will be challenging it in court.”
A total of 72.7 million people were eligible to vote in the presidential poll as well as parliamentary elections held at the same time.
Low voter turnout — at 35% across the country — was blamed on a combination of voter apathy because of the delay, organisational and logistical problems, as well as unrest.