Fayose breaks ranks with PDP congratulating Tinubu and asking Atiku to concede defeat

FORMER Ekiti State governor Ayo Fayose has broken ranks with the leadership of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and congratulated the former Lagos State governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on being elected as Nigeria's next president.

In the early hours of this morning, Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) declared Asiwaju Tinubu the winner of Saturday's presidential elections. Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Inec chairman who served as the returning officer for the election, declared Asiwaju Tinubu the winner with 8,794,726  votes, defeating former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who came second with 6,984,520 votes.

As of yesterday, the PDP was challenging the results that Inec released, saying they were flawed and called on Professor Yakubu to cancel the4 elections and stand down as Inec chairman. Alhaji Abubakar's running mate, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State led these calls in conjunction with Senator Yusuf Baba-Ahmed, the running mate of the Labour Party.

However, Governor Fayose has refused to go along with the stance of his party, congratulating president-elect Tinubu on his victory in the presidential elections. He accepted the Inec figures which put Asiwaju Tinubu in first place, Alhaji Abubakar second and former Anambra State governor Peter Obi of the Labour Party third with 6,101,533 votes.

Governor Fayose Tweeted: “I congratulate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on his election as the next president of Nigeria. As for the PDP national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, I call for his immediate resignation for his inability to move the party forward.

“As the presidential election comes to an end, I urge other contestants, especially Atiku Abubakar to accept the outcome in the overall interest of our country. There will always be another day.”