The 2023 presidential election is evolving as the most keenly contested since the advent of the Fourth Republic in 1999 as the three leading candidates are running neck-to-neck in the results that have been released so far by the Independent National Electoral Commission, throwing up the possibility of a rerun.
Results released so far at the Abuja National Collation Centre of INEC showed that the candidate of the All Progressives Congress Bola Tinubu is leading the race after garnering 6,300,834 votes. The former Lagos State Governor has also won in eight states namely Kwara, Jigawa, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti and Benue and Niger.
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party Atiku Abubakar is following him closely with 4,758,962 votes with victories in nine states including Adamawa, Yobe, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Gombe, Bayelsa, Kebbi, Bauchi and Kaduna states.
Peter Obi of the Labour Party is leading in Enugu, Nasarawa, Lagos, Anambra and Plateau and he is third in the race with 3,035,529 votes across the country.
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has garnered 1,358,377 votes, the majority of which came from Kano State, the only place he has won so far.
However, the gap between the top contenders is presenting the possibility of a rerun of the elections as none of them might meet the provisions of the constitution which stipulates that the winner must emerge through a simple majority and 25 per cent of the votes scored in at least two-thirds (24) of Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The full provision of Section 134 of the Constitution
(1) A candidate for an election to the office of President shall be deemed to have been duly elected, where, there being only two candidates for the election –
(a) he has the majority of votes cast at the election; and
(b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
(2) A candidate for an election to the office of President shall be deemed to have been duly elected where, there being more than two candidates for the election-
(a) he has the highest number of votes cast at the election;
and
(b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
(3) In a default of a candidate duly elected in accordance with subsection (2) of this section their shall be a second election in accordance with subsection (4) of this section at which the only candidate shall be –
(a) the candidate who scored the highest number of votes at any election held in accordance with the said subsection (2) of this section; and
(b) one among the remaining candidates who has a majority of votes in the highest number of states, so however that where there are more than one candidate with majority of votes in the highest number of states, the candidate among them with the highest total of votes cast at the election shall be the second candidate for the election.
(4) In default of a candidate duly elected under the foregoing subsections, the Independent National Electoral Commission shall within seven days of the result of the election held under the said subsections, arrange for an election between the two candidates and a candidate at such election shall be deemed elected to the office of President if –
(a) he has a majority of votes cast at the election; and
(b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja
(5) In default of a candidate duly elected under subsection (4) of this section, the Independent National Electoral Commission shall, within seven days of the result of the election held under the aforesaid subsection (4), arrange for another election between the two candidates to which the subsection relates and a candidate at such election shall be deemed to have been duly elected to the office of President if he has a majority of the votes cast at the election.
With official results recorded so far, Tinubu, the leader is yet to meet the 25 per cent of the votes scored in at least two-thirds (24) of Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory but the trajectory has shown he could reach the milestone as he seems to have performed well in many states he did not win except for the South-East where APC has performed relative poorly.
