Buhari beats Atiku to secure re-election as Nigeria president

Muhammadu Buhari has been re-elected president of Nigeria, results released by the elections body late into Tuesday showed.

After final verified results by the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC’s returning officers from across the country, Buhari polled over 15 million votes as against contender Atiku’s 11 million plus.

The difference in real figures was close to 4 million votes. The results were a close contest in the area of number of states won by the candidates. Nigeria has 36 states including the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

Final figures:

Buhari, APC = 15,191,847

Atiku, PDP = 11,262,978

Difference: 3,928,869

According to electoral laws, the candidate with the most votes is declared winner as long as they have at least one-quarter of the vote in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states and the capital.

A run-off would have been necessitated but records also indicated that Buhari had surmounted the said threshold. He will be sworn in as president for a final term lasting from 2019 through to 2023.

FINAL VERIFIED RESULTS: 36 STATES PLUS FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY

Buhari, APC = 15,191,847

Atiku, PDP = 11,262,978

Difference: 3,928,869

KEBBI

APC: 581,552

PDP: 154,282

ZAMFARA

APC: 438,682

PDP: 125,423

RIVERS

APC: 150,710

PDP: 473,971#NigeriaDecides2019 pic.twitter.com/taYJi5Hx7l— africanews (@africanews) February 26, 2019

Who won where?

Buhari won in 19 states including:

Osun

Ekiti

Kwara

Nasarawa

Kogi

Gombe

Yobe

Niger

Jigawa

Kaduna

Bauchi

Lagos

Ogun

Kano

Katsina

Borno

Zamfara

Kebbi

Sokoto

Atiku won 17 states plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT):

Ondo

Abia

Enugu

Ebonyi

Adamawa (Atiku’s home state)

Oyo

Anambra

Edo

Plateau

Benue

Imo

Taraba

Akwa Ibom

Cross River

Rivers

Delta