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– NewsDesk

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the 2023 presidential election held on Saturday, 25th February 2023. Meanwhile, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) congratulated the President-Elect and wished him two successful terms.

MURIC’s congratulatory message was contained in a press statement signed by the Executive Director of the Islamic human rights organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Wednesday, 1^st March 2023.

The statement reads:

“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the 2023 presidential election held on Saturday, 25^th February 2023. Tinubu polled a total of 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 6,984,520 to emerge second. Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) came third with 6,101,533 votes.

“First and foremost, we thank Almighty Allah for making Tinubu’s victory at the polls a fait accompli. Next, we congratulate the President-Elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Jagaban of Borgu, for this great feat, and we wish him two successful terms in good health, bounteous national prosperity, peace and stability. Bola Tinubu is, indubitably, not only the most eminently qualified for the position but the best well-prepared for it. His victory is, therefore, well deserved.

“We urge the President-Elect to remain focused on rebuilding Nigeria as he rebuilt Lagos and to stay in character by inspiring religious tolerance the same way he had always tolerated all faiths. We have no scintilla of doubt that Tinubu, who has been married to a Christian pastor for the past 40 years and led a happy marital life, will successfully manage a multi-religious entity like Nigeria.

“At this juncture, we heartily congratulate the First Lady Elect, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, for successfully nurturing a model macro home in a multi-religious microcosm called Nigeria.

“MURIC thanks the North for standing by Tinubu and for remaining faithful to their pledge. The Northern Region has proved to all and sundry that it is a region of honour and nobility. The strong statement that has been made with the trajectory of the presidential election is that the North is a reliable friend. The North has demonstrated the essence of Islam in terms of trustworthiness and fulfilment of promises. We are very grateful.

“We congratulate Yoruba Muslims for securing the presidency for the first time since independence. It is on record that three Yoruba Christians have occupied the post in the past. The victory of Tinubu, a moderate Yoruba Muslim, came as a fulfilment of the yearnings of Muslims in the region.

“We give kudos to INEC for doing a great and professional job. Professor Mahmood Yakubu will be remembered for his nonpartisanship. We call on Nigerians to support Tinubu’s government when it finally comes on board.

“We remind the opposition to accept the status quo because it is only Allah that picks leaders of men. Romans 13:1 says, ‘Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.’

“The Glorious Qur’an 3:26 also says, ‘Say Oh Allah, Lord of all dominions! You give the kingdom to whom You will, and You take away dominion from whom You will, You exalt whom You will and abase whom You will. In Your Hand is all good. Surely You are All-Powerful.’

“We, therefore, charge the main opposition candidates to accept the wish of Allah, congratulate Tinubu and work together with the President-Elect in order to sustain the good work of President Muhammadu Buhari. This is not the time to dissipate resources on legal disputes. Nigeria needs peace and stability.  

“MURIC congratulates the Yoruba people for Tinubu’s victory. Two great sons of Yorubaland, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief M. K. O. Abiola tried it in vain, but today, another great son, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a bona fide Yoruba and the greatest political strategist in Nigeria, has won the presidency. It is an achievement worthy of celebration by this great ethnic nationality.

“We, therefore, call on all the Yoruba people, regardless of religion, ideology and political leaning to rally behind Tinubu and to transform his ‘emilokannism’ (it is my turn) to ‘awalokanism’ (it is our turn).”

#CongratulationsJagaban  #ThankYouNorth  #WelcomeJagaban  

By Muhammadu Sabiu  

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the candidate for the All Progressives Congress, has been declared the winner of the 2023 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission. 

After gaining 8,805,420 votes to win the election, Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, was named president-elect. In the wee hours of Wednesday, INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu made the declaration at the International Collation Centre in Abuja. 

Tinubu triumphed against rival candidates Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party. 

The three front-runners for president each won 12 states, although Kwankwaso only won Kano State. Atiku, a former vice president and his closest rival, lost to Tinubu by a margin of no less than 1.8 million votes. 

Other candidates vying for the presidency of the country, in addition to Tinubu, Obi, Atiku, and Kwankwaso, are Dumebi Kachikwu of the African Democratic Congress, Kola Abiola of the People’s Redemption Party, Omoyele Sowore of the Africa Action Congress, Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party, Malik Ado-Ibrahim of the Young Progressive Party, and Prof.

Christopher Imumulen of the Hamza Al-Mustapha of the Action Alliance, Sani Yusuf of the Action Democratic Party, Nnnadi Osita of the Action Peoples Party, Oluwafemi Adenuga of the Boot Party, Osakwe Felix Johnson of the National Rescue Movement, and Nwanyanwu Daniel Daberechukwu of the Zenith Labour Party are also on the list. 

Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Kwara, Ekiti, Kogi, Benue, Zamfara, Borno, Rivers, and Jigawa are among the states that Tinubu has won, while Atiku has triumphed in Bauchi, Yobe, Gombe, Kaduna, Kebbi, Bayelsa, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, and others.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

A pressure group, Voice of New Fagge, has demanded that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declare the winner of the Fagge Local Government’s National Assembly election held on Saturday.

Dr Muhammad Suleiman Abdullahi Fagge, the spokesperson of the group, made the request in a letter addressed to the chairperson of INEC in the Fagge Local Government Area of Kano State on Tuesday.

According to Mr Fagge, tension and uncertainty are brewing in Fagge over the refusal of INEC to declare the winner in the election on time.

He said: “We write in order to notify INEC about the growing tension, apprehension, anger and uncertainties brewing in Fagge Local Government’s communities over the recently concluded National Assembly elections. We also want to notify all the authorities concerned that the Fagge Local Government’s National Assembly election winner should be declared without wasting time.”

Mr Fagge also alleged that plans are underway by Hon. Aminu Suleiman Goro to increase the number of cancelled votes in order for him to comfortably thwart the will of the electorates.

He said: “There’s an allegation that Hon. Aminu Suleiman Goro, who is the third in this election, is working tirelessly to increase the number of cancelled votes to pave the way for him to rig the election in his favour, and this will not augur well with our democracy and the peace of the people of Fagge Local Government. It is upon this background that we call on INEC to immediately declare the winner of Fagge Local Government’s National Assembly election. This is in order to preserve the peace of the good people of Fagge Local Government and Kano State in general.”

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

A former Chief of Army and Defence Staff, General Akinrinade Alani, has faulted President Obasanjo’s call for the suspension of the collation of results of the presidential election.

In a press statement released to the public on Tuesday and titled, “An Interloping Former President is a Danger to Democracy”, General Akinrinade condemned the former president’s stance on the ongoing presidential election.

The retired soldier said, “The recent statement by former President Olusegun Obasanjo over the recently concluded elections must be condemned in the strongest terms by democracy loving Nigerians and those who care about the unity of this country.”

President Obasanjo in a press statement had earlier requested for the stoppage of collation of result on ground of electoral malpractices.

General Akinrinade further stated that, as Obasanjo’s contemporary, who fought for the unity of this country, he finds it disturbing that Obasanjo made such suggestion.

He therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore Obasanjo’s vituperation and focus on the lawful process.

He noted that he is confident President Muhammadu Buhari will let the process run its full course and will not intervene in an undemocratic manner.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Muhammed Bello El-Rufai, the son of the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufa’i, has won a House of Representative seat under All Progressives Congress (APC) party.

Bello, who is the eldest son of El-Rufa’i, disclosed this on his verified Twitter handle on Monday.

He said, “Alhamdulillah. I have just been declared as the Kaduna North House of Representatives-Elect.

“I had 51,052 votes, while my closest opponent, Hon. Samaila Suleiman scored 32,802 votes.

“I would like to thank Allah SWT, all the people of Kaduna North and my committed team. Thank you,” he twitted.

The Daily Reality gathered that other candidates defeated were Shehu Mohammed Faisal of the Labour Party who scored 7531 and Aliyu Muhammad Ahmad of NNPP who scored 10,148.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Taraba Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had cautioned their members not to lose the incoming gubernatorial election in the state to another faith. 

Bishop Manasseh Silas Rifore, the State CAN Secretary, issued the directive on behalf of the Christian leadership in the State on Friday. 

“Dire caution must be exercised so that we Christians don’t lose our ancestral land to another faith”, He warned 

According to Mr Rifore, the Christians in the state must therefore accept, mobilize and vote massively for Colonel Kefas Agbu of the PDP to ensure Christian votes in Taraba remain undivided among the five contenders.

The CAN noted that the association’s decision is not in any way associated with any political sentiment.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has urged the Lagos State people to avoid violence against his loss to Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), in Lagos State.

In Saturday’s presidential elections, Obi defeated Tinubu in Lagos with a total vote of 582,454, whereas Tinubu got 572,606 votes.

Different reports from the state indicated violence in some parts of the state as hoodlums attacked some traders.

However, reacting to the incident in a statement by his Director, Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu said the defeat should not be a source of violence in Lagos State.

He added, “The fact that the APC narrowly lost Lagos State to another party should not be the reason for violence.

“As a democrat, you win some; you lose some. We must allow the process to continue unhindered across the country while we maintain peace and decorum,” the former governor of Lagos State said.

By Muhammad Sabiu

Nigeria’s main opposition party, the PDP, has declared to contest the presidential election results.

Dino Melaye, a PDP representative at the national collation centre in Abuja, stated this on Monday while raising the alarm over presidential election results coming from Kwara.

Mr Melaye contended that the results are in doubt since INEC failed to promptly post the results from the polling units online.

By Muhammad Abdurrahman

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Adams Oshiomhole of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of Saturday’s election for Edo North Senatorial District in Edo.

Benjamin Adesina, the INEC Returning Officer, on Sunday in Auchi, declared Mr Oshiomhole as the winner of the polls with 107,110 votes.

He defeated the incumbent Senator Francis Alimekhena of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 55,344 votes.

“Adams Oshiomhole of APC, having scored the highest number of votes, is hereby declared as the winner of the election conducted on the 25th of February for Edo North Senatorial District,” Mr Adesina said.

(NAN)

By Ibrahim Mukhtar

According to an eyewitness who was on the scene of the election, hundreds of thugs entered the Gaya town polling unit and attacked everyone who was around.

A victim of the attack narrated that “the thugs attacked us in the process of collating results in Gamarya Ward, Gaya. I had to escape through the window into the wild bush to save my life.

Thanks to Allah, I am now safely in Gaya town. It was really a terrible experience.”

Reports indicate that the Gamarya ward’s counsellor led the thugs together with some prominent politicians of the ward to disrupt the peaceful process of the collation.

The Daily Reality learnt that some people were reported to be severely injured and maimed while many others scampered and lost their valuables.