Nigeria’s fourth post-restoration election has resulted in the election of its first mono-religious presidential team; Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a Muslim from the South-West, and Kashim Shettima, a Muslim from the North-East won the election in a closely fought race that many expected would result in a run-off, due to the presence, for the first time of a significant third political party, the Labor party. Tinubu, also popularly known as Jagaban, a diminutive of one of his aristocratic titles, Jagaban of Borgu, is seventy years old and a former governor of Lagos, home to the country’s largest city and its largest economy.
A fourth candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, also made significant gains for his party, the NNP. Tinubu is the second post-restoration candidate who has not been a former military leader of the country, and the first to win office by direct election. He defeated the other mainline candidates, Atiku Abubakar, standing for the People’s Democratic Party, and Peter Obi, for the Labor party, roughly by 3 million votes; in a move that has become almost customary, the defeated main line candidates in the election have called for a cancellation of the vote and vowed to challenge the results in court. Tinubu is to be sworn in on the 29th May 2023.
The Vex 