BY SHOLA OSHUNKEYE
At exactly 4.40 a.m., Wednesday morning, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC, winner of the 2019 presidential election.
Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, declared Buhari winner of the election, having polled 15, 191, 847 votes to beat his closest rival and candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who scored 11, 262, 978.
The conclusion of the process should bring a huge relief to a nation that had waited with bated breath since last Sunday for the commission to declare the final results of the vote which held on Saturday, February 23, 2019.
The commission shifted the election from February 16 till 23, hours to the commencement of voting, citing logistical problems, which arose majorly from its inability to deliver sensitive and non-sensitive materials to most polling units across the country.
The development raised not a few eyebrows as many thought something sinister was going on. But an unfazed Prof. Mahmood Yakubu apologised to the nation for the embarrassing situation and reassured Nigerians of his commission’s commitment to deliver to it a free, fair and credible election.
With the conclusion of the declaration of President Muhammadu Buhari as duly elected at 4.43a.m., Prof. Yakubu has effectively discharged that very important aspect of his assignment.
Before he rose, however, the INEC boss announced that the commission will present the certificate of return to the President-elect and vice president-elect by 2p.m. at the national collation centre, Abuja.
