UPDATED: #NigeriaDecides2023: Peter Obi defeats Tinubu, wins presidential election in Lagos

Peter Obi of the Labour Party has been declared the winner of the presidential election in Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous state.

Mr Obi secured 582,454 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Bola Tinubu of the APC, who scored 572, 606 votes.

Atiku Abubakar of the PDP came third with 75,750 votes.

A total of 1,347,152 people were accredited for the election in Lagos, a state where Mr Tinubu has a lot of political control and influence.

Though Mr Tinubu’s APC won in the majority of the 20 local governments in Lagos (11), Mr Obi’s total votes were more, while he also won in the remaining nine local government areas.

The result has been described by many analysts as a demystification of Mr Tinubu, who had been predicted to win the state where he was governor between 1999 and 2007.

The results as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission at the state’s collation centre on Monday morning are reproduced below:

Accredited voters 1,347152

A — 3069

AA — 498

AAC — 1597

ADC–  5789

ADP — 2439

APC — 572,606

APGA — 2316

APM — 709

APP — 371

BP — 1837

LP — 582454

NNPP — 8,442

LRM — 609

PDP — 75,750

PRP — 1120

SDP — 772

YPP — 1109

ZLP — 9964

Valid votes 1271451

Rejected 64278

Total votes cast 1335729

How candidates fared

Obi

Mr Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, in south-east Nigeria, received massive support from the electorates, especially in the areas densely populated by non-Yoruba speaking residents.

Also, the campaign against APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket for the presidency was seen by many as “evil, inconsiderate and insensitive,” and led to what some members of the ruling party described as protest votes against the ticket.

The local government areas where Mr Obi won are Kosofe, Eti-Osa, Ojo, Amuwo-Odofin, Somolu, Ikeja, Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Alimosho, and Oshodi-Isolo.

Tinubu

The APC candidate, Mr Tinubu, won in 11 local government areas of the state but his total number of votes garnered was less than Mr Obi’s tally by less than 10,000.

The local government areas won by Tinubu are Lagos Island, Ibeju-Lekki, Apapa, Lagos Mainland, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ikorodu, Epe, Badagry, Agege, Mushin and Surulere.

Mr Tinubu also lost his local government, where he voted on Saturday, Ikeja, to Mr Obi who polled 30,004 votes as against Mr Tinubu’s 21,276 votes.

Also, the state’s local government with the highest voter turnout, Alimosho, was won by Mr Obi. The local government area had always provided a major buffer for the ruling party, but the outcome of the 2023 election has shocked many.

The results in the local government show that the parties recorded 158,209 total votes cast, out of which 147,870 were valid and 10,339 rejected.

Of the total, Mr Obi scored 71,327 votes while Mr Tinubu scored 62,909 votes. Atiku of the PDP scored 8,201 votes.

Likely consequences

Many Lagos residents have commended the outcome of the poll, suggesting that it could mark a significant change in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

Many faithful of the ruling party in the state have also expressed shock over the result, with some of the leaders threatening local leaders to either brace up and work for the party or get sanctioned.