The incumbent and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, almost took the shine off the victory on Tuesday of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari, in Nigeria’s presidential election when, in a move that is out of place in a country like Nigeria, he quickly congratulated the president-elect.
This was even hours before the final declaration of the winner by the Independent National electoral Commission.
This move by Jonathan dominated the headlines and discussions around the world for the better part of the late evening on Tuesday.
From the Cable News Network to the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Nigerian media and notable personalities in and outside Nigeria, this became the talking point for the rest of the day after news filtered in that Jonathan had congratulated Buhari on his victory at the poll.
The President called the president-elect at exactly 5:15pm to congratulate him.
Nigeria’s former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, expressed shock at the move.
Abubakar had gone on a visit to Buhari along with his elections peace committee members only to be told Jonathan had reached out to the president-elect.
It was no doubt Buhari’s day of glory having sought the presidency since the country’s return to democratic rule in 1999.
Buhari won the presidential election by 2.57 million votes, according to the final official results announced in the wee hours of Wednesday by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The 72-year-old retired General garnered 15,424,921 votes, or 53.95 per cent of the 28,587,564 total valid votes cast.
Jonathan, 57, had a cumulative total of 12,853,162 votes, or 44.96 per cent, of the total votes cast.
Sequel to this, the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, pronounced Buhari the winner of the election.
Jega said: “Muhammadu Buhari, of the APC, having satisfied the requirement for the law and scored the highest number of votes, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected.”
Nigeria had its glorious day around the world on Tuesday with the commendation of the election process that commenced with voting on Saturday.
The election was in the main peaceful and described as largely free and fair.
Below is the full result:
EKITI
APC – 120,331
PDP – 176,466
OGUN
APC – 308,290
PDP 207,950
ENUGU
APC – 14,157
PDP – 553,003
KOGI
APC – 264,851
PDP – 149,987
OSUN
APC – 383,603
PDP – 249,929
ONDO
APC – 299,889
PDP – 251,368
FCT
APC – 146,399
PDP – 157,195
OYO
APC – 528,620
PDP – 303,376
NASARAWA
APC – 236,838
PDP – 273,460
KANO
APC – 1,903,999
PDP – 215,779
JIGAWA
APC – 885,988
PDP – 142,904
KATSINA
APC – 1,345,441
PDP – 98,937
KWARA
APC – 302,146
PDP – 132,602
KADUNA
APC – 1,127,760
PDP – 484,085
ANAMBRA
APC – 17,926
PDP – 660,762
ABIA
APC – 13,394
PDP – 368,303
AKWA IBOM
APC – 58,411
PDP – 953,304
IMO
APC – 133,253
PDP – 559,185
PLATEAU
APC – 429,140
PDP – 549,615
EBONYI
APC – 19,518
PDP -323,653
NIGER
APC – 657,678
PDP – 149,222
LAGOS
APC – 792,460
PDP – 632,327
BAYELSA
APC – 5,194
PDP – 361,209
GOMBE
APC – 361,245
PDP – 96,873
CROSS RIVER
APC – 28,368
PDP – 414,863
RIVERS
APC – 69,238
PDP – 1,487,075
ADAMAWA
APC – 374,701
PDP – 251, 664
ZAMFARA
APC – 612,202
PDP – 144,833
KEBBI
APC – 567,883
PDP – 100,972
BENUE
APC – 373,961
PDP – 303,737
BAUCHI
APC – 931,598
PDP – 86,085
YOBE
APC – 446,265
PDP – 25,526
EDO
APC – 208,469
PDP – 286,869
TARABA
APC – 261,326
PDP – 310,800
SOKOTO
APC – 671,926
PDP – 152,199
BORNO
APC – 473,543
PDP – 25,640
DELTA
PDP – 1,211,205
APC – 48,910.