Bola Tinubu declared winner of Nigeria election

Nigeria's ruling party candidate, Bola Tinubu, was declared president-elect of Africa's most populous nation in the early hours of Wednesday after a weekend election that the main opposition parties have disputed.

Tinubu received 37 per cent of the votes, about 8.8 million in total, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), while main opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar won 29 per cent with almost seven million. Third-place finisher Peter Obi took 25 per cent with about 6.1 million, according to the results announced on live television by the INEC.

The parties now have three weeks to appeal results, but an election can be invalidated only if it's proven the national electoral body largely didn't follow the law and acted in ways that could have changed the result.

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has never overturned a presidential election, though court challenges are common. Abubakar challenged the 2019 results after losing, but lost his appeal.

Opposition parties rejected the results as the product of a flawed process, which suffered multiple technical difficulties owing to the introduction of new technology by INEC, and on Tuesday called on its chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, to resign.

Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress will succeed Muhammadu Buhari, who is finishing two terms in office.

'We must build together'

The president-elect thanked his supporters in the capital, Abuja, after his victory was announced and struck a reconciliatory tone in a message directed at his political adversaries.

"I take this opportunity to appeal to my fellow contestants to let us team up together," Tinubu said. "It is the only nation we have. It is one country and we must build together."

It is the first time since the end of military rule in 1999 that a president takes office with less than 50 per cent of the vote and where four candidates won over a million votes, say analysts.

Tinubu "will have to strive to win the support of the larger majority who preferred one of the other candidates, particularly the youth [and] the Christian groups that were opposed to his Muslim-Muslim ticket," said Nnamdi Obasi, senior adviser on Nigeria for the International Crisis Group.

Nigeria's presidential election has been closely watched as the country is not only the continent's largest economy but it is also one of the continent's top oil producers. It is struggling with currency and inflation issues, as well as sectarian and Islamist violence.

From dishwasher to president

Tinubu, 70, is the former governor of Lagos state, home to Nigeria's megacity of the same name. However, he lost the state in Saturday's election to Obi, who drew a strong following among younger voters eager for change.

A biography on his campaign website says Tinubu was born in Lagos in 1952, to a Muslim family from the Yoruba ethnic group, the majority in southwest Nigeria. Others say he is much older.

In the 1970s, he emigrated to the United States, where he worked as a dishwasher, taxi driver and night guard to fund his studies. He graduated from Chicago State University in 1979 with a degree in business administration.

After working for U.S. consultancy firms, he returned to Nigeria in the 1980s and worked for the branch of the Mobil oil company as an auditor.

He first got involved in politics in the 1990s and was elected governor of Lagos when military rule ended in 1999. He served two terms.

His supporters say he improved roads, trash collection and other services in the chaotic city, but many Lagosians say it remains deeply dysfunctional.