Tinubu Leads Presidency Race; More Results Due
(Bloomberg) — Nigeria’s ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu is leading the race for the next president of Africa’s largest economy.
Most read by Bloomberg
With ballots from 29 of Nigeria’s 36 states and federal capital territory, Tinubu won 10 states and 39% of the total vote, according to results released Tuesday by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party won in 11 states with 31% of the total vote, while underdog Peter Obi came in seven states and 20%.
The winner must receive a majority of the votes and more than 25% of the ballots in at least 24 states. The electoral commission wants to announce further results on Tuesday from 9 p.m. local time.
Election Authority Defends Results Process (February 28, 4:14 p.m.)
Nigeria’s electoral authority defended its handling of the February 25 presidential election after opposition parties and civil society groups criticized the results, citing discrepancies between official counts and data held by the parties’ pollsters.
Three of the parties announced that they would boycott the process.
Claims that the agency is declaring manipulated results are “unfounded and irresponsible,” Rotimi Oyekanmi, a spokesman for INEC, said in a statement on Tuesday. The results announced so far “indicate a free, fair and credible process,” he said.
Bonds Dropped as Opposition Boycotts Vote Counting Process (Feb 28 4:07pm)
Nigerian bonds fell for the first time in four days as a boycott of the vote count by opposition parties jeopardized the uncontested result markets wanted to see.
The country’s dollar bond maturing in 2051 slipped 1.7 cents to 69.88 against the US dollar, while securities maturing in 2047 and 2031 each lost less than a cent, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
According to an index by JPMorgan Chase & Co., the sovereign risk premium widened by 16 basis points. Investors feared the latest developments could delay the formation of a stable government capable of implementing tax reforms needed to ease a crippling debt burden and stabilize the currency.
Oil Hub Vote Count Suspended (February 28, 3 p.m.)
An elections official in Rivers State, Nigeria’s main oil hub, suspended vote collection on Tuesday, saying he was blamed for the voter verification system malfunctioning and his life was threatened.
Charles Adias, state collation commissioner for the presidential election, urged reporters, political party officials and law enforcement officials gathered at the regional results center to disperse until the election commission clarified its role to the public.
Ruling party claims victory (February 28, 2 p.m.)
The ruling All Progressives Congress has dismissed allegations of cheating by the opposition as unfounded and has accused them of defaming the entire electoral process.
She called on PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar and Labour’s Obi to call in defeat, saying, according to a statement, that “his election has already been won by our candidate”.
Lagos, Abuja Residents Stay Home (February 28, 1:30 p.m.)
Markets and streets in the commercial hub of Lagos and the capital Abuja were quieter than normal, with many people opting to stay home until the final results are announced.
Several foreign diplomatic missions also urged citizens to stay off the streets until there is more clarity on the outcome. Post-election crises are common in Nigeria as much of the population is divided along religious and ethnic lines.
Nigeria Votes on Unlikely Oil Industry Revival (February 27, 4:40 p.m.)
Regardless of the outcome of the elections, a revival of the country’s oil industry is considered unlikely in the short to medium term. Oil production has been in decline for over a decade, falling from more than 2.5 million barrels a day in 2011 to less than 1.3 million barrels a day last year.
Tax troubles, persistent oil theft and oil majors’ prioritization of lower-risk assets remain significant bottlenecks that do not lend themselves to a quick fix.
–Assisted by Emele Onu and Anthony Osae-Brown.
(Corrects the number of states Tinubu won in the second paragraph.)
Most Read by Bloomberg Businessweek
©2023 Bloomberg LP