Jonathan wins presidential election
 |
| Goodluck Jonathan |
President
Goodluck Jonathan has won the crucial presidential election of Nigeria, which
many have described as the freest election since 1999.
President
Jonathan is coasting home with 24 states plus the Federal Capital
Territory, FCT out of the
29 states officially declared by the Independent National electoral commission,
INEC.
The
president, a southerner from the minority oil rich state of Bayelsa is leading its
closest rival Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, a former military head of state from the Muslim
dominated north with considerable margin enough to win the presidential election.
He
won all the states in the south-east, south-west, south-south and some states
in the north central, while Gen Buhari cleared the polls in north-west and key
states in other parts of the north.
A
candidate needs absolute majority votes plus at least 25% votes cast in 24 states
of the federation to be declared winner and avoid run-off.
Gen.
Buhari has alleged that the election was rigged in some states but hinted that
he will not challenge the results in court due to the country’s slow judicial process,
but added that his party’s officials are free to go to court if they want to do
so.
His
words "We are getting a lot of sad information about people intercepting
some printed voters cards in different parts of the country. We are concerned about
the amount of election voting cards that are being thumb-printed elsewhere and
were taken to some of the voting centres."
Meanwhile,
the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Election Observation
Mission in Nigeria
has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other
stakeholders for ensuring a peaceful and orderly election.
In
its reports the regional body states “the ECOWAS Observation Mission would like
to commend the Federal Government of Nigeria and all stakeholders for ensuring
a peaceful and orderly election, thus making it a historic step for the strengthening
of democracy and good governance in Nigeria. Voters are also urged to
maintain their high sense of responsibility and tolerance during the remaining
election period.”
-African
Examiner
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