#NigeriaElections2023: Tinubu defeats Atiku, Obi in Rivers

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has won the February 25, 2023, presidential election in Rivers State.

According to the results announced on Tuesday by the State Collation Officer, Prof. Teddy Adias, Tinubu polled 231,591 votes to defeat Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), who garnered 175,071 votes.

Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came a distant third with 88,468 votes.

Tinubu, who was trailing Obi with over 20,000 votes at the announcement of 21 Local Government Areas, secured the overall gap ahead of the LP presidential flag-bearer after the results of Governor Nyesom Wike’s Obio-Akpor LGA gave the APC candidate 80,239 votes.

READ ALSO: PHOTOS: Jonathan leads ECOWAS monitoring team to Tinubu

Tinubu won in 15 LGAs, Obi in five, while Atiku won in three LGAs.

Adias, who is the Vice-Chancellor of Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa State, had earlier suspended the collation of the election results over threat to his life.

He said those threatening his life accused him of being responsible for all the alleged electoral malpractice in Rivers State.

The Vice-Chancellor said he had received numerous calls from unknown persons after his private phone number was displayed on social media.

Adias, however, vowed not to resume the collation of results until the matter is addressed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Governor Wike has since been at loggerheads with Atiku over the former Vice President’s refusal to prevail on the party’s National Chairman, Sen. Iyorchia Ayu, to resign after he clinched the party’s presidential ticket in May 2022.

Wike, who led five aggrieved governors in the PDP, known as G5, insisted that it was unfair for the main opposition party to have the national chairman and presidential candidate from the northern region of the country.

The Star