President Muhammadu Buhari has won his re-election bid as he polled 15,191,847 votes to defeat his closest rival, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party in the presidential poll conducted on February 23.
Atiku polled 11,262,978 to lose the election with a margin of 3,928,869 votes.
This is according to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s collated figure of votes from all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory released on Wednesday morning.
Though INEC has not formally declared Buhari as the winner as of the time of writing this report, the President has met all the requirements the constitution requires a candidate to meet before such could be declared the winner.
According to the constitution, a presidential candidate must have nothing less than 25 per cent of votes cast in at least two-thirds or 24 states of the federation. The candidate should also have majority votes in the election.
With the figure released by INEC at the national collation centre in Abuja on Wednesday morning, the incumbent President has more than 25 per cent of the election in over 24 states.
He also defeated his closest rival with 3,928,869 votes.
Atiku also had 25 per cent of the total votes cast in over 24 states but lost the poll when the simple majority rule condition is applied.
While President Buhari won in 19 states, Atiku won in 17 states and the FCT.
The states Buhari won are Bauchi, Borno, Ekiti, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Osun, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara.
Atiku won in Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Ondo, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba and the FCT.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, had earlier said the last lap of the announcement of the election result would start by 3am on Wednesday.
INEC had started the collation of the results on Monday with the declaration of results from 11 states and the FCT, during which Buhari won seven states leaving Atiku with four and the FCT
The collation of results for the 2019 Presidential election continued on Tuesday with Niger State where Buhari with 612, 371 votes beat Atiku who scored 218, 052.
There are 2,375,568 registered voters across the 15 Local Government Areas of the state and 911,964 accredited voters.
The state recorded a total vote cast of 896,976 and 851,937 valid votes. 45 votes were rejected while 71,200 were cancelled.
In Jigawa State, President Buhari scored 794,738 votes against Atiku’s 289,895 votes.
Jigawa with 27 LGAs, has 2 ,104, 889 registered voter population of which 1,171,801 were accredited to vote. However, 1,149,922 of this number voted in the election in the state.
The recorded valid votes for Jigawa is 1,106,244 while 43, 678 votes were rejected.
Kaduna State also went to Buhari with 993,445 votes as against PDP’s 640, 612 votes.
Atiku fought back in Anambra State with 524,738 votes as against the APC’s 33,298 votes.
Adamawa State also went to the PDP
Atiku won with 410,266 votes against Buhari’s 378,078. Atiku is from Adamawa, which has 21 LGAs and 1,959,322 registered voters. The number of accredited voters in Saturday’s poll is 874,920.
The total valid votes are 811,534 while the number of rejected votes is 49,222 giving a total number of 860,756.
The APC candidate also won in Lagos State by defeating the PDP candidate with 580,825. Atiku polled 448,015 votes in Lagos.
Edo State with 18 Local Government Areas and 2,150,127 registered voters, went to Atiku of the PDP with a vote of 275, 691 as against Buhari who scored 267,842 votes.
The number of accredited voters in the poll was 604,915, while the number of total valid votes are 560,711. The total rejected votes was 38, 517, giving a total vote cast of 599, 228.
The number of cancellation which was carried out in 48 polling units is 42,176.
The vote of Benue State went to Atiku as he pulled a narrow margin victory over Buhari with a figure of 356,817 as against APC’s 347,668.
Benue with a voter population of 2, 391,276 has a total vote cast of 763,872, while the number of valid votes cast is 728,912.
The rejected votes are 34,960 while 122,989 votes were cancelled in 172 polling units.
Plateau State also gave its vote to Atiku as he scored 548,665 while Buhari scored 468,555.
The registered voter population is 2,423, 381, while accredited voters for the election are 1,074,042. The total valid vote is 1,034,853 and the total vote cast is 1,063,862. The number of rejected votes are 28,009.
Buhari thrashes Atiku in Bauchi
In Bauchi State, INEC said Buhari polled 798,428 votes.
INEC Collation Officer, Prof. Alhassan Ghani, said this at INEC National Collation Centre in Abuja on Tuesday.
Ghani also Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State, said Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, scored 209,313 votes to place second.
He said the state had 2,453,512 registered voters, out of which 1,075,330 were accredited for the election.
Ghani added that 1,061,955 votes were cast, out of which Buhari scored 798,428 votes, while Atiku scored 209,313 votes.
According to him, a total of 1,024,307 valid votes and 37,648 invalid votes were recorded during the election.
Buhari wins Ogun with 281,762 votes
Buhari also won in Ogun State with 281,762 votes.
The state Collation Officer, Prof. Joseph Adeola, announced the result at the National Collation Centre in Abuja on Tuesday.
Adeola said Atiku scored 194,655 votes to place second.
Adeola, who is also the Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Akure, put the total number of registered voters in the state at 236,887, total vote cast, 605,938, and number of total valid votes was 564,256.
He, however, said election was cancelled in 11 polling units which cut across six Local Government Areas of the state having a voting population of 9,680.
Atiku records slim victory in Oyo
In Oyo State, Atiku in a keen contest defeated Buhari by a margin of 1,461 votes.
The Oyo State Collation Officer of INEC, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Sulyman Abdulkareem, announced the final accumulated results in the state after the collation exercise in Abuja.
Abdulkareem said that 905,007 voters were accredited for the voting, adding that at the end of the exercise. Atiku garnered 366,690 votes while the APC candidate scored 365,229 votes.
Buhari records landslide victory in Kano
Buhari won in Kano State by a landslide victory.
INEC Collation Officer in Kano State, Prof. Magaji Garba, the Vice-Chancellor, Federal University, Gusau, Zamfara State, who announced the result at the National Collation Centre in Abuja, said Buhari polled 1,464,768 votes to defeat his opponents in the poll.
He said Atiku came second with 391,593 votes, while Donald Duke of Social Democratic Party got 635 votes to place third.
According to him, Obadiah Mailafia of African Democratic Congress scored 591 votes, Yabagi Yusuf of African Democratic Party polled 439 votes and Mr Omoyele Sowore of African Action Congress,416 votes.
He said total registered voters in the state stood at 5,391,581 out of which 2,006,410 voters were accredited.
The collation officer announced that the number of total votes cast was 1,964,751, out of which 73,617 votes were rejected.
He added that votes in 17 out of the 44 Local Government Areas of the state were cancelled with a total of 43,900 voters affected.
Buhari floors Atiku in Katsina
Similarly, INEC announced that Buhari won the election in his home state of Katsina by an overwhelming margin.
According to Prof. Fatima Mukhtar, the Collation Officer for the state, Buhari polled 1,232,133 votes to defeat his PDP opponent, Atiku, who scored 308,056 votes.
Mukhtar said the state had 3,210,422 registered voters and that 1,628,865 of them were accredited for the election.
She added that the state recorded 1,619,185 votes, with 1,555,473 valid and 63,712 rejected.
Atiku defeats Buhari in Cross River
But Atiku defeated Buhari in Cross River State after scoring 295,737 votes against the APC candidate’s 117,302 votes.
Atiku won all the local government areas except Etung which was cancelled because of violence and Bakassi where voting did not take place in four of the 10wards but results of six wards were recorded.
The presidential and National Assembly collation officer for Cross River State, Prof. Akin Ibhadode, released the figures in Abuja on Tuesday.
Atiku triumphs in Bayelsa
Meanwhile, INEC declared Atiku winner in six LGAs of Bayelsa State.
INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Zana Akpagbo, who announced this on Tuesday in Abuja, said Atiku polled 197, 933 votes to beat Buhari of the APC who polled 118, 821 votes.
“From the eight LGAs in Bayelsa, we have a total valid votes of 321, 767, total accredited voters, 344, 237, votes cast, 335, 856 and rejected votes are 14, 089.
“Total registered voters are 923, 189,” Akpagbo announced.
Bayelsa State has eight LGAs. Buhari won in two -Nembe and Southern Ijaw, while Atiku won in Brass, Ogbia, Yenagoa, Kolokuma/Opokuma, Sagbama, and Ekeremor LGAs.
Buhari beats Atiku by 313,259 votes in Zamfara
In Zamfara State, Buhari defeated Atiku with 313,259 votes.
This was announced by the Returning Officer of the poll, Prof. Kabiru Bala, at the end of the collation of results on Tuesday in Abuja.
Bala said while Buhari polled 438,682 votes, Atiku scored 125,423 votes.
He however reported that many of the local government returning officers complained of attacks by either bandits or hoodlums leading to the rejection of a total of 18,785 votes across the 14 Local Government Areas of the state.
INEC declares Buhari winner in Kebbi State
Buhari also won in Kebbi State having polled 581,552 votes to defeat Atiku, who scored 154,282 votes.
The result was announced at the National Collation Centre of 2019 Presidential Election on Tuesday in Abuja by the Collation Officer, Prof. Haruna Bichi, the Vice-Chancellor, Federal University, Dutsinma, Katsina State.
He said the total registered voters in the election were 1,820,697.
“A total of 756,605 votes were valid while total votes cast was 803,755 out of which 47,150 was rejected,” he said.
Atiku wins Taraba poll with 374, 743 votes
Atiku won the election in Taraba State, according to state Collation Officer, Prof. Shehu Iya, who is also the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Madibo Adamawa, University of Technology, Yola.
Iya said Atiku polled 374, 743 votes in the state, while Buhari polled 324,906 votes.
According to him, out of the total 1,777,105 registered voters in the state, 777,105 eligible voters in Taraba State were accredited, while 741, 564 votes were cast.
He noted that the total number of valid votes was 712, 877, while 28, 627 votes were rejected.
Atiku wins Imo with 334,923 votes
Atiku also won in Imo State after polling 334,923 votes out of 542,777 total votes cast in the state.
The result was announced on Tuesday at the INEC National Collation Centre in Abuja, by the State Returning Officer, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba.
Ozumba, also the Vice-Chancellor, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu State, said Buhari polled 140, 463 votes at the poll.
According to Ozumba, the state has 2,037,569 registered voters, 585,742 accredited voters, while 31,191 votes were rejected.
He said the election was cancelled in 97 polling units in 12 LGAs of the state with 63,078 registered voters in the affected areas.
PDP wins in Delta
With 594,068 votes, the PDP candidate also won in Delta State, according to INEC.
The Collating Officer for the election in the state, Prof. Seth Jaja, who announced the result in Abuja, said Buhari came second with 221,292 votes.
Jaja said Atiku won in 23 LGAs out of 25 in the state, leaving the remaining two for Buhari.
Jaja said the state had 2, 719, 313 registered voters, and that 891, 647 voters were accredited for the election.
He announced that total valid votes cast were 829,762, while 52, 492 were voided.
Culled from PUNCH
