Buhari secures a second term after beating Atiku by almost 4m votes as PDP reject result

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has been re-elected for a second term after beating former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the February 23 presidential elections with almost 4m votes.

Following the collation of the results from all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory by the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec), President Buhari won with 15,084,862 votes, compared with 11,262,978 for Alhaji Abubakar.  Winning with a margin of 3,821,884 votes, President Buhari also secured a records 25% of the vote in 32 states, only failing to meet the requirement in Rivers, Bayelsa, Anambra and Enugu states.

In a massive win for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), President Buhari was victorious in four of Nigeria's six geo-political zones, sweeping to victory in the north west, north central, north east and south west geo-political zones. In a crushing defeat for Alhaji Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), key marginals like Lagos, Kwara, Kogi, Nasarawa and Ondo all went to the APC.

President Buhari also made history, winning in states like Ekiti for the first time and also secured 25% of the vote in southeast states where he had hitherto performed very poorly like Abia, Ebonyi and Imo. Even in the south-south geo-political zone considered a PDP stronghold, President Buhari also secured 25% of the vote in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta states.

Having met all the requirements laid down by Inec and Nigeria's Electoral Act as well as securing the highest number of votes, President Buhari was declared the winner. Inec chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who served as the returning officer for the presidential elections, will now present him and vice president Yemi Osinbajo with their certificates of return.

Already, trouble is brewing, however, as the PDP has refused to accept the results, claiming that in several states, the figures published in Abuja do not match those collated at source. PDP chairman Prince Uche Secondus, said that some of the polling units result from states, including Nasarawa, narrowly won by President Buhari had been tampered with and said the figures from Katsina State was totally unacceptable.

Prince Secondus added: “As results trickled in on the Sunday, February 24 clearly putting the PDP in the lead, the ruling party and President Buhari dispatched high-ranking officials to coercively influence outcomes in different geopolitical zones in the country. For example, the minister of the interior, was dispatched to the northwest of the country.

"The secretary of the government of the federation was dispatched to the northeast of the country too, while the attorney-general was dispatched to the southeast and south-south regions. Additionally, violent and destructive attacks have been meted out to officials while counting at Lafia St and police barracks polling units in Sokoto State.

"As if these provocations are not enough, our agents and officials are constantly arrested and in many cases locked-up for complaining that card readers were not in use in many northern states, implying that all results from the northern part of the country where readers were not used should be voided in accordance with Inec guidelines. I also believe, the arrest of Engineer Buba Galadima, who has been a great symbol of what is courageous about our people goes to show that one man’s ambition is greater than our collective good, and most probably worth the blood of all Nigerians."

It is believed that the PDP will challenge the election results in court as it is thought to have already got its legal team together. Already, the party has submitted several petitions to Inec, objecting to the fact that voting did not take place in a lot of its strongholds.