Election commission declares victory for former
military ruler, Muhammadu Buhari, over
incumbent Goodluck Jonathan. 31 Mar 2015 17:48 GMT | Politics, Africa, Nigeria, Nigeria Decides The 72-year-old Buhari built an early lead in
northern state [AP] RELATED FEATURED Nigeria's election commission has declared
Muhammadu Buhari the winner of the
country's bitterly contested presidential election,
in a vote marred marred by confusion, arguments
and violence. Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege, reporting from the
capital Abuja, said the election commission made
the announcement after nearly all votes had been
tallied. "Buhari was able to get more than 25 percent of
votes in 24 states, which means there won't be a
run-off vote," she said. To win the election, Buhari had needed to win
more than 50 percent of the total votes nationally
- and take at least 25 percent of the vote in two
thirds of the states. According to the Reuters news agency, Buhari's
APC won by 2.1 million votes, with 15.4 million
votes versus 13.3 for Jonathan and the PDP. The All Progressives Congress (APC) party said
their candidate received a phone call from
incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan where
he immediately conceded defeat and
congratulated Buhari on his victory. "President Jonathan called General Muhammadu
Buhari, the winner of the elections, to
congratulate him," Lai Mohammed, the
spokesman for the APC said. "There had always been this fear that he might
not want to concede, but he will remain a hero
for this move. The tension will go down
dramatically, "Anyone who tries to foment trouble on the
account that they have lost the election will be
doing so purely on his own," he added. Victory for Buhari, a former military ruler, marks
the first time in Nigeria's history that an
opposition party has democratically taken control
of the country from the ruling party. Read more of our indepth coverage on Nigeria's
election Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, reporting from Lagos,
said there was shock that Jonathan had
congratulated Buhari and that violence had not
followed the announcement. "The announcement has been greeted with
celebrations across the country," Mutasa said.
"Many people are excited and hope this will mark
a new beginning and the country moves
forward." The 72-year-old built an early lead in northern
states dominated by the mainly Muslim, Hausa-
Fulani ethnic group of which he is a member. Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, whose
five years in office have been plagued by
corruption scandals and an insurgency by Boko
Haram fighters, was trailing by around 500,000
votes before votes in pro-opposition areas were
counted. In the previous election, more than 800 people
were killed in protests after Buhari was defeated
by Buhari. There was a brief protest by Jonathan's Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) before the counting had
resumed on Tuesday. Former Niger Delta minister Godsday Orubebe
accused elections chief Attahiru Jega of being
"partial" and "selective". Orubebe claimed Jega had refused to investigate
PDP complaints about big wins by Buhari in
northern states but had launched a probe into
claims by the APC of irregularities in Rivers. Jega said later: "I don't believe that the
allegations are substantial enough to require the
cancellation or rescheduling of the elections in
Rivers state. We will take the results." International observers gave broadly positive
reactions to the conduct of the vote, despite late
delivery of election materials and technical
glitches with new voter authentication devices. Nigeria's Transition Monitoring Group, which had
observers across the country, said: "These issues
did not systematically disadvantage any
candidate or party." Source: Al Jazeera Profile: Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria's former military
ruler, is seen as the main challenger to
Goodluck Jonathan. Politics, Africa, Niger, Nigeria Will Muhammadu Buhari be Nigeria's next
president? With Goodluck Jonathan's collapsing
popularity, Muhammadu Buhari actually stands
a chance of winning the 2015 elections.

K

front page tins.........dancing #shoky

IT WAS STREAMED ON NTA that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan congratulates Buhari.
Honestly speaking, Jonathan is the hero here.
Buhari has a herculean task of pleasing Nigerians now that they have overhyped him and he has won. Its getting to time for him to do the needful for Nigeria to become developed.
Congratulations General Buhari/Prof Isibajo. Wish you well but keep in mind that uneasy lies the head that wears the crown!

say Buhari .....say baba...

IMAGINE FASHOLA AS MINISTER OF JUSTICE, OSHIOMOLE AS WORKS, AMAECHI AS INFORMATION

K

olaboy001:
IMAGINE FASHOLA AS MINISTER OF JUSTICE, OSHIOMOLE AS WORKS, AMAECHI AS INFORMATION

abi oooooo

AmeLonRo:
IT WAS STREAMED ON NTA that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan congratulates Buhari.
Honestly speaking, Jonathan is the hero here.
Buhari has a herculean task of pleasing Nigerians now that they have overhyped him and he has won. Its getting to time for him to do the needful for Nigeria to become developed.
Congratulations General Buhari/Prof Isibajo. Wish you well but keep in mind that uneasy lies the head that wears the crown!

True.

AmeLonRo:
IT WAS STREAMED ON NTA that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan congratulates Buhari.
Honestly speaking, Jonathan is the hero here.
Buhari has a herculean task of pleasing Nigerians now that they have overhyped him and he has won. Its getting to time for him to do the needful for Nigeria to become developed.
Congratulations General Buhari/Prof Isibajo. Wish you well but keep in mind that uneasy lies the head that wears the crown!

hmmmmmm