Nigeria’s electoral commission has begun reporting state-by-state results from Saturday’s presidential election.
The three main parties have complained about anomalies. There have been allegations of violence and intimidation, albeit not to the extent of recent elections.
Following is information about the election process and current leaders.
WHO ARE THE MAIN CANDIDATES?
Eighteen people are running for president but only three are viewed as having a serious chance. They are Bola Tinubu from the ruling All Progressives Congress party (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the major opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the smaller Labour Party (LP) (LP).
A fourth contestant, Rabiu Kwankwaso, of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), is projected to perform well in some regions of the north.
The Results so far
According to an assessment of preliminary results published by election authorities in 20 of Nigeria’s 36 states, Tinubu leads with 39.7% or 5.4 million valid ballots counted, versus 32.2% or 4.4 million votes for Atiku. Obi had garnered roughly 16.3% or 2.2 million ballots.
How are the votes Counted?
Results from 176,846 polling stations are being counted manually and then communicated electronically to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) headquarters in Abuja, which publishes them on its website
The results are also being tabulated at the ward, local government and state levels. A returning officer from each state then flies to Abuja with a tally sheet, which will be checked against the results given directly by polling stations to the national collation centre.
When tallies from all the states and the federal territory of Abuja are confirmed, the INEC chairman will announce the national results and proclaim a victory.
