Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, and Bola Ahmed Tinubu, national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), on Wednesday urged Nigerians to rally around President Muhammadu Buhari, as he starts a second term of four years from May 29, 2019.
The two leaders in separate statements in which they congratulated Buhari and his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, also restated faith in Nigeria’s democracy, noting that though the election recorded regrettable incidents of violence and killings in some parts of the country, the interest shown by the electorate was, however, a demonstration of their resolve to further deepen democracy in the country.
Buhari/Osinbajo, candidates of the ruling APC polled a total of 15,191,847 votes to triumph over Abubakar Atiku and his running mate, Peter Obi, candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who secured 11,262,978, losing with a margin of 3,928,869 votes.
Apart from the figures, President Buhari won in 19 states. These include Bauchi, Borno, Ekiti, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Osun, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara. The major opposition candidate, Atiku, on the other hand won in 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The states are Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Ondo, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers and Taraba.
According to Ambode, “The victory is not just a confirmation of the people’s love for Buhari, but an attestation that Nigerians are happy with the progress the Federal Government has made in the last four years.
“I join millions across the country to congratulate President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo for their victory. This is indeed a historic moment because Nigerians have used their votes to show that they are happy with the progress the country has made on several sectors of the polity.”
Tinubu on his part said the current leadership owed the youth and all Nigerians to build a political culture of civility, tolerance and equality.
“The tasks before us are hard. We dare not underestimate the challenges that await us, but the rewards that beckon are profound. The people of Nigeria are industrious and brave. The ground beneath us is fecund and it is ours. Our plans are visionary and bold. Our goals are just. And the president you have re-elected is honest and true,” he said.
The former governor of Lagos State said he was confident that the positive confluence of leadership, people, resources and ideas was an unwavering but also a glad and comforting thing. “If we put ourselves to it, there is nothing that another nation has done for itself that we cannot achieve for ourselves,” he said.
Besides, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari over the victory.
Okorocha, in a congratulatory message on Wednesday in Owerri, also commended Nigerians for voting for the President in the election.
He described the re-election of Buhari as the “best political development for the nation at the moment,” saying there could not had been a better alternative.
The governor also said the support extended to the President at the polls was a clear indication of “his enviable popularity among Nigerians.’’
He said the millions of votes the president garnered across the six geo-political zones in the country showed that he was a detribalised leader and also an endorsement of his anti-corruption war.
Okorocha expressed optimism that the President’s second term would be better than his first term in all ramifications.
