ELECTION RESULTs: Buhari leads with 57%

—- Accept results, Catholic bishops tell candidates

By Emeka Nze, Ameh Ejekwuonyilo and John Oba, Abuja

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken a convenient lead in the 2015 presidential election going by the results announced last night by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

This translates into the party’s presidential candidate, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), mulling a comfortable victory.

Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, supervised the collation and announcement of the results of the poll from the various states at a well-attended session in Abuja.
The result from each state was announced by the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in front of a large gathering of journalists and other stakeholders.

Two sessions were conducted, the last ending at 10:30 p.m.
Out of the 18 states and the Federal capital Territory (FCT) results released, the APC is leading with 10 states, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) clinched eight states and the FCT.
Details showed that as at last night, the APC was leading in  Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Oyo, Kogi, Kano, Jigawa, Katsina Kwara and Kaduna.

The PDP, the results also showed, was leading in Ekiti, Enugu, Nasarawa, Anambra, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The figures showed that Buhari was leading in the poll with three million votes, making it 57% of the total tally so far announced.

Even though it is too early to point at a clear winner, Buhari’s lead, as well as the unfolding permutations on the strength of each candidate in the 18 states whose results have not been announced, suggests a victory for him over incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.
The collation and announcement of the results shall resume at 10 a.m. today in Abuja. It is expected that a definite winner of the election will be announced by INEC today.

Meanwhile, as tension continues to trail the outcome of the elections, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has called on contestants and Nigerians to accept the outcome of the results.
The group, in a statement issued by the Bishop of Umuahia and chairman of Church and Society, Bishop Lucius Ugorji, and Archbishop of Jos and President, Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Ignatius A. Kaigama, yesterday, urged both the PDP and the APC to make no recourse to violence as it would be unacceptable.

It said: “They should enjoin their followers to keep the peace. This is the only country we have and it is everybody’s task to keep it as one. We enjoin the security forces to be at alert and contain any post-election violence, and to be holistic in their approach to security by ensuring that in their attempt to prevent post-election violence, they do not leave the space open for sustained renewed attacks by Boko Haram. Boko Haram is still a serious threat to the peace and security of our land and its people.”

The CBCN called on the INEC chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, to investigate what happened in different polling stations where there were shortcomings in order not to rubbish the good works he had put into building the credibility of INEC.
It said: “We hope that there will be significant improvement in the next election and some culprits would be brought to book as a deterrent to others.  We were hoping that the use of smart card readers would render useless ballot stuffing and ballot box snatching.”

S/NO    STATE    APC    PDP

1.    Ekiti    120,331    176,446
2.    Ogun    308,290    207,950
3.    Enugu    14,157    553,003
4.    Osun    383,603    249,922
5.    Ondo    299,387    251,368
6.    FCT    146,399    157,195
7.    Oyo     528,620    303,376
8.    Nasarawa    263,835    273,460
9.    Kogi    264,851    148,987
10.    Kano    1,903,999    215,779
11.    Jigawa    885,988    142,904
12.    Katsina    1,345,441    98,937
13.    Kwara    302,146    132,602
14.    Kaduna    1,127,760    484,085
15.    Anambra    17,926    660,762
16.    Abia    13,394    368,303
17.    Akwa Ibom    58,411    953,304
18.    Imo    133,253    559,185
19.    Plateau    429,140    549,614