Nigerian Ruling Party’s Bola Tinubu Wins Race for Presidency

(Bloomberg) -- Bola Tinubu was declared the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election, a victory that will place him at the helm of Africa’s biggest economy as it confronts a deepening fiscal crisis, acute shortages of local and foreign currency and gasoline, and widespread insecurity.

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The ruling All Progressives Congress party’s candidate won 35.2% of the votes cast on Feb. 25, while Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party finished runner up with about 28%, official results announced on Wednesday showed. The election was marred by glitches and delays in collating the results, which prompted the two main opposition parties to boycott the process.

Tinubu will succeed Muhammadu Buhari as president in late May after a three-month transition period.

The ex-governor of Lagos state, Tinubu will inherit a mountain of public debt that’s grown seven-fold to 77 trillion naira ($167 billion) during Buhari’s eight-year tenure and left the government with an interest bill that consumed about four-fifths of its revenue last year. Besides having to get the nation’s finances back on track, he’ll need to quash violence perpetrated by jihadists, secessionists and armed bandits across vast swathes of territory.

Tinubu has pledged to expand the size of the security forces, more than triple crude production, reduce exposure to foreign debt and make it easier for citizens to access financing. He’s also vowed to eliminate gasoline subsidies that cost the government 4.9 trillion naira last year and consumed most of its oil revenue — a move that will push up transport costs and could trigger social unrest.

“Attention should turn to the challenges for the next administration,” Charles Robertson, global chief economist at Renaissance Capital Ltd., said before the result. “In the meantime, let’s hope that the outgoing Buhari administration is prepared to do a favour to Tinubu and the APC by taking some tough decisions on the fuel subsidy and perhaps the exchange rate.”

The outcome of the election is likely to be challenged in court, with the PDP and the Labour Party alleging “monumental disparities” between the official results and the data available with their parties’ polling agents.

The accusations were denied by the electoral commission.

The 70-year-old Tinubu is used to navigating controversy, having spent decades at the forefront of Nigerian politics. After running the commercial hub of Lagos for eight years until 2007, he remained the most influential politician in southwestern Nigeria, where he played a key role in the selection of state governors.

He has been a leading powerbroker in the APC since its formation in 2013 and saw off challengers including former Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to secure the party’s presidential nomination by a landslide in June last year.

Besides receiving the most support nationally, Tinubu crossed a constitutional threshold requiring a successful presidential contender to win more than 25% of the votes cast in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, the Independent National Electoral Commission announced in the capital, Abuja. Kashim Shettima, the 56-year-old former governor of the northeastern Borno state, will serve as his vice president.

The APC, which dislodged the PDP from power in 2015, has now won three consecutive presidential elections. Peter Obi of the LP secured 24.4% of the vote and won 11 states, including Lagos, and the FCT, making significant inroads in areas long dominated by the two main parties.

Turnout at 28.6% of the 87.2 million people that registered and collected their voting cards was the lowest since 1999.

--With assistance from Emele Onu, Arijit Ghosh and Anthony Osae-Brown.

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