JUST IN: #2023NigeriaDecides: Tinubu Sweeps Presidential Election in Ekiti

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate, Bola Tinubu, has won the 2023 presidential election in Ekiti State.

 Tinubu won in all 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Ekiti State to defeat his closest rivals, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

According to results announced at the State Collation Centre,  Tinubu scored a total of 201,486 votes to emerge the winner of the election.

INEC officials at the state collation centre have announced the results of each of the local governments. However, the final tabulation was still ongoing at the time of this report. 

Mr Tinubu’s closest rival, Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored over 25 per cent of the votes cast in the state with a total of 89,554 while Mr Obi of the Labour Party got 11,397 votes, thus enable to meet the 25 per cent requirement in the state.

To be declared winner of the presidential election, a candidate must have the highest number of votes cast in the election and score at least 25 per cent of votes in 25 states (two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states and Abuja).

In the next few minutes, Ekiti, one of Nigeria’s smallest states by population and land mass, is expected to be the first of Nigeria’s 36 states and Abuja to formally declare the final result of the presidential.

Ekiti is currently governed by the APC through Governor Biodun Oyebanji. Mr Oyebanji’s predecessor, Kayode Fayemi, is also of the APC and a key supporter of Tinubu.

One popular PDP politician in Ekiti, ex-Governor Ayo Fayose, is also believed to have worked for Mr Tinubu, having joined camps with PDP governors opposed to Atiku.

Before the election, Mr Oyebanji had said the state was indebted to Mr Tinubu and would pay back with massive votes during the election.