Nigeria’s opposition parties reject ruling party’s victory over irregularities

Nigeria’s two main opposition parties on Tuesday called for the cancellation of the country’s weekend presidential elections won by Ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu, on the grounds of “massive manipulations” of the results.

The Nigerian federal electoral body, INEC, crowned Tinubu winner of Saturday presidential poll after partial count of the votes.

Tinudu of All Progressives Congress party captured 37% of the vote, or nearly 8.8 million, while main opposition candidate Abubakar won 29% with almost 7 million. Third-place finisher Peter Obi of the Labor Party took 25% with about 6.1 million. He won most votes in the commercial hub of Lagos State, which houses Africa’s biggest city.

Both losers however rejected the results and called for a new election to be held. They also slammed delays in the count, and major failures in the electronic transfer of results and accused the ruling party of fraud.

The opposition also asked the head of the INEC to step down.