Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party has his Certificate of Return.
The Independent National Electoral Commission handed him the certificate on Wednesday in Abuja.
The declaration of Tinubu as the president-elect came in the early hours of Wednesday. It polled the highest number of votes in the 2023 elections.
Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in second place.
Also, Labour Party’s (LP) Peter Obi in third place and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) managed to take fourth place.
However, Kwankwaso’s party, NNPP, is not happy with the result.
The political party is calling for the cancellation of the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections.
Not The Wishes Of Nigerians
The chairman of the NNPP, Rufai Ahmed Alkali, made the call to the electoral umpire,
Also, he is requesting that he should cancel the entire process.
The party stated that the election results declared did not mirror the wishes of Nigerians.
“We must be aware that, no matter the situation in our country, all leaders must consider the stability and security of the country as paramount.
“Our country is bigger than any individual and is certainly more important than any vested interest.
“To save our democracy and our country, the present election results must not be accepted by Nigerians and by all friends of Nigeria.
“We are therefore calling on the immediate suspension of the announcement of results.
“The cancellation of the 2023 presidential election across the country,” the NNPP said.
The party also accused INEC of deliberately blurring its logo on ballot papers.
“We were shocked on the election day to discover that INEC has decided to use the most blurred image to represent the logo of NNPP,” Alkali said.
LP, PDP, and ADC Also Call For Another Election
On Tuesday, the LP, PDP, and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) called on INEC to suspend the collation of the results of the presidential election.
The parties held a press conference in Abuja where they jointly made this call.
This was as the INEC Chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu, was receiving the results from the different states.
Speaking on behalf of the three parties, the chairman of the LP, Julius Abure, alleged that INEC compromised the integrity of the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections.
He equally called for the resignation of the INEC chairman and conduct of another election.
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Drama At The Collation Centre
Also, at the collation centre in Abuja on Monday, an agent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dino Melaye, made some complaints about the results being presented.
Furthermore, Melaye said the electoral umpire had promised that results from polling units would be uploaded on the INEC result viewing portal as soon as they were counted.
However, at the time they were being presented in Abuja, most of them were yet to be uploaded.
In response, the INEC chairman had told him it would be addressed and cautioned him against being ‘disruptive’ of the electoral process.
Melaye and a few other party agents including the LP staged a walkout on the INEC chairperson.
The Journey To Court
The Presidential Campaign Council of the APC accused the PDP and LP of seeking the use of the court to stop the ongoing collation of results.
The council in a statement on Monday said the Electoral Act prohibits the court from stopping the conduct of elections in Nigeria.
Festus Keyamo, the Director of Public Affairs of the APC issued that statement.
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He stated that the aggrieved parties cannot use the court to stop the electoral process.
Furthermore, Keyano claims it is against section 84 (15) of the Electoral Act.
According to him, that section prohibits the grant of injunctions to stop the holding of elections.
In that light, the presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the LP, Peter Obi, and Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed are ready to go to court.
Speaking on behalf of Obi during a press conference held hours after Tinubu’s declaration, Baba-Ahmed said the Labour Party won the presidential election.
He says they will reclaim the mandate in due course.
