Bola Tinubu, the former Lagos governor who is credited with helping the city-state increase its revenue base, has been sworn in as Nigeria’s new president.
Tinubu was sworn into office on Monday morning (May 29th 2023), in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, after taking oath of office from Chief Justice Olukayode Ariwoola in a colourful ceremony attended by local and foreign dignitaries.
He succeeds President Muhammadu Buhari to lead a country that by 2050 is forecast to become the third most populous nation in the world, tied with the United States after India and China.
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He has promised to build on Buhari’s efforts to deliver democratic dividends to citizens in a country where deadly security crises, widespread poverty and hunger have left many frustrated and angry. And with his election still being contested in court by opposition parties and among many young Nigerians, Tinubu has also pledged to reunite the country.
Symbolic of a transition of power and loyalty to the new president, Gen. Lucky Irabor, Nigeria’s chief of defense staff, presented old national and defense flags of Nigeria to Buhari and received new ones from Tinubu, who is also the Chief of the Armed Forces.
On Wednesday, March 1, 2023, which was four (4) days after the voting had taken place, the Chief Returning Officer for the 2023 Presidential Election and Chairperson of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, announced at 4:10 am in Abuja, Nigeria that Tinubu, who had contested on the ruling party APC’s ticket, had emerged as the winner and will continue the work as Nigeria’s next president, succeeding General Buhari.
Announcing the results, Prof. Yakubu said: “That Tinubu Bola Ahmed of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and returned elected.”
The All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Tinubu, secured a victory by garnering 8,794,726 million votes out of the total registered voters of 93,469,008 million, with only 25,286,617l6 million voters participating in the election. The total number of valid votes cast was 24,965,218, while the number of rejected votes was 24,025,940.
Following the national elections in February, newly elected governors also took their oath of office in many Nigerian states on Monday.
Tinubu’s victory was achieved by securing votes from various parts of the country. He won in 12 states across five of the six geo-political zones, except for the Southeast where LP candidate Obi hails from and won all five states. Obi received the majority of his 6.1m votes from the Southeast. Tinubu won in Ekiti, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo in the Southwest region; Niger, Benue, Kogi, Kwara in the Northcentral region; Zamfara, Jigawa in the Northwest region; Borno in the Northeast region; and Rivers in the Southsouth region. He obtained 25% of the total valid votes in 27 states, including the 12 states where he emerged as the outright winner.
In the run-up for the 2023 presidential elections, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu faces a lot of criticism, mainly from his opponents who point to his gaining of fortune and entrenchment of cronyism during his time in office as governor. There are also questions raised against him, concerning his excessive wealth, his health, and even challenges to the legitimacy of his academic credentials.
