After
three previous failed shots at the presidency, Muhammadu Buhari is
finally moving into Aso Rock, Nigeria’s presidential palace,as the
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
A retired
Major-General, Mr. Buhari, who contested on the platform of the All
Progressives Congress, APC, polled a total of 15,424,921 votes to defeat
the incumbent and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, President
Goodluck Jonathan, who got 12,853,162 votes.
The APC candidate got the highest number of votes in 21 states while Mr. Jonathan prevailed in 15 states and Abuja.
Mr.
Buhari has also met the constitutional requirement to be declared
President-elect by getting more than one quarter of the votes in 26
states.
The APC candidate won in Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno,
Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Niger,
Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara.
Mr. Jonathan on
the other hand prevailed in Rivers, Plateau, Taraba, Nasarawa, Imo,
Enugu, Ekiti, Edo, Delta, Ebonyi, Cross River, Bayelsa, Anambra, Akwa
Ibom, Abia and the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja).
Mr.
Buhari’s victory makes it the second time since 1999, when Nigeria
returned to democratic rule, that a retired military officer would
become Nigeria’s president.
The retired army officer’s journey
to the presidency began in 2003 when he contested under the platform of
the now defunct All Peoples Party, APP.
That year, he got 12.7
million votes to lose to Olusegun Obasanjo, also a retired army officer,
who was seeking a second term as president.
Despite picking a
southerner, the late Chuba Okadigbo, as a running mate, Mr. Buhari got a
huge chunk of his votes from the north.
Four years later, Mr.
Buhari, contesting under the ANPP, attempted another shot at the
presidency, this time going head to head with a fellow northerner, Umar
Yar’adua of the PDP.
Again, he lost.
Despite still
picking a southerner as a running mate, his performance in 2007 was far
worse than that of 2003 – he polled a meagre 6.6 million votes while the
eventual winner got thrice his vote.
By 2011, Mr. Buhari helped
found another party, the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, and,
once again, he aimed a shot at becoming president.
Once again, he picked a southerner as running mate.
On April, 16, 2011, he ran against the incumbent, President Jonathan.
He polled 12.2 million votes to lose to Mr. Jonathan who got almost twice his votes.
After
the 2011 general elections, three major political parties – the Action
Congress of Nigeria (ACN), a faction of the All Progressives Grand
Alliance (APGA), and Mr. Buhari’s CPC – began talks on a merger that
would enable it provide a formidable platform to challenge the dominant
PDP.
On February 6, 2013, the APC was founded.
At the
APC presidential primaries in December 2014, Mr. Buhari contested
against political heavyweights like Atiku Abubakar, former vice
president; Rabiu Kwankwaso, governor of Kano State; and Rochas Okorocha,
governor of Imo State.
At the end of the day, the retired general polled 3,430 delegates votes to defeat his challengers.
For his running mate in the run up to the 2015 general election, Mr. Buhari again picked a southwesterner as a running mate.
During his campaign, the 73-year-old traversed the length and breadth of the country canvassing for votes.
The
2015 presidential election was the first time Mr. Buhari won in states
outside northern Nigeria, winning all the south-western states except
Ekiti State.
Credit: Ben Ezeamalu/Premium Times
Congratulations to our new president elect, General Muhammadu Buhari. And, I want to thank all Nigerias, for selecting our new president elect. General Muhammadu Buhari as the president of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria. I thank you all for standing strong, for keeping to your word and for making sure that the actualization of the most needed "CHANGE" occur to our great nation, Nigeria. I pray to God Almighty, to help our new president elect to redeem the image of our lost integrity. Nigeria will once again, be a better and a safer place for all of us to live in. Nigerians, Change Is Here And If You Agree With Me, With A Loud Voice, Scream, Shout And Say "SAI BUHARI!!!!!!!!!!!!. God Bless The Federal Of Nigeria, God Bless GMB And May God Bless Everyone Of Us. Amen. #ChangeIsHere
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