Buhari emerges president-elect, as Jonathan concedes defeat

Maj.Gen, Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) is the President-elect. And this is official.

The Independent National Electoral Commission declared him winner of the 2015 presidential election at exactly…on Tuesday after two days of collation of the results from states in Abuja.

He polled 15,424,921 to defeat incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, who scored 12,853,162 votes.

As of Monday when INEC began the collation and announcement of the results at the National Collation Centre for the President Election located at the International Conference Centre, in Abuja, Buhari had won 10 states with 8,520, 436 votes. Jonathan recorded victory in eight states and the Federal Capital Territory with 6,488,210 votes.

When the collation resumed and progressed on Tuesday, signs that the Katsina State-born former Head of State, who had previously taken a shot at the Presidency thrice, would win the election became clearer.

Buhari had contested presidential elections in 2003, 2007 and 2011, but lost to the Peoples Democratic Party candidates (Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua and Jonathan).

Before Jega drew the curtains on the exercise, Jonathan called Buhari on the telephone to congratulate him.

According to the result announced by INEC, Buhari won five out of the six states in the South-West while Jonathan emerged victorious in one.

At the end of the exercise on Wednesday morning, Buhari won 21 states and Jonathan 15 plus the FCT.

In Lagos State, the APC presidential candidate got 792,460 votes, while his PDP counterpart garnered 632,327 votes.

Buhari polled 308,290 votes in Ogun State while Jonathan had 207,950 . In Oyo State, the former Head of State got 528,620 and the President received 303,376 votes.

The president-elect also won Osun State with 383,603 to defeat Jonathan, who had 249,929. Jonathan lost Ondo, a PDP state, to the president-elect. Buhari polled 299,889 votes, while the President got 251,368 .

But the President won in Ekiti State, where he got 176,466 votes to defeat Buhari, who received 120,331.

The incoming president emerged victorious in all the seven states in the North-West. In Sokoto State, he had 671,926 votes; Zamfara, 612,202; Kano, 1,903,999; and Jigawa, 885,988.

In Katsina, his home state, Buhari got 1,345,441;   1,127,760 in Kaduna   and 567,883 in Kebbi.

Jonathan secured 152,199 votes in Sokoto; 144,833   in Zamfara; 215,779 in Kano;   142,904 in Jigawa;   98,937 in Katsina; 100,972 in Kebbi   and 484,085 in Kaduna.

Buhari defeated Jonathan in five of the six states in the North-East, where he polled 473,543 votes in Borno; 374,701 in Adamawa; 931,598 in Bauchi; 361,245 in Gombe and 446,265 in Yobe.

The incoming president, however, lost Taraba by scoring 261,326 votes as against the President’s   310,800 .

Jonathan received 25,640 votes in Borno; 251,664 in Adamawa; 86,085 in Bauchi; 25,526 in Yobe; and 96,873 in Gombe.

Also, Buhari won four out of the six states in the North-Central. In Benue State, he polled 373,961 votes; 264,851 in Kogi; 302,146 in Kwara and 657,678 votes in Niger.

He was defeated in Plateau State, where he had 429,140 votes and Nasarawa, where he narrowly lost to Jonathan, who secured 273,460 votes while he received 236,838 votes.

In the zone, the outgoing president also won in Plateau State, where he had 549,615 votes.

But he lost the four remaining states, including Kogi, where he garnered 149,987 votes; Kwara, 132,602 votes; Niger, 149, 222 votes and Benue, 303,737 votes.

Buhari was unable to defeat Jonathan in the latter’s strongholds of South-South and South-East.

In the South-South, Jonathan polled 953,304 votes in Akwa Ibom, while Buhari received 58,411 votes. In Bayelsa State, the President got 361,209 votes while the president-elect had 5,194 votes.

In Delta State, Jonathan garnered 1,211,405 votes while the incoming President received 48,910 votes. The President got 286,869 votes in Edo State and Buhari had 208,469 votes.

In Cross River State, the outgoing President had 414,863 votes, while the incoming President received 28,368 votes. Jonathan got 1,487,075 votes in Rivers State to defeat Buhari, who received 69,238 votes.

Buhari also suffered defeat in the five South-East states. In Anambra, Jonathan polled 660,762 votes, while the President- elect got 17, 926 votes.

In Abia State, the outgoing President had 368,303 votes while the APC presidential candidate received 13,394 votes.

Buhari secured 19,518 votes in Ebonyi State where Jonathan polled 323, 653 votes. In Enugu State, the President had 553,003 votes, while the President-elect received 14,157 votes.

Source - PUNCH