Dollar-denominated government bonds on Wednesday rose to the highest in 5-7 months following the announcement of a second term for incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the early hours of Wednesday declared Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the 2019 Presidential election.
Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman and chief returning officer for the election, said Buhari secured a total of 15.2 million votes to defeat Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 11.3 million votes.
Yields on Eurobond fell 1.81 percent to an average yield of 6.871 on Wednesday, from 6.998 in the previous day’s trading.
Portfolio investors are hitting the market for bonds and treasury bills to take advantage of high yield, as they do not see the possibility of an FX move in the next six months at least.
In the day’s trading, yields on benchmark sovereign domestic bonds declined as 5-year bonds fell c0.37bps to 14.13, 10-year declined by c.012cbps, and 20-year by c.31bps to 14.12 percent.
At the start of the year, the benchmark sovereign domestic bonds offered much higher yields with the 5-year offering 15.14 percent, 10-year offering 15.57 percent, and 20-year offering 15.54 percent each.
Bid to cover ratio on the 91-day paper, 182-day paper and 364-day paper auctioned Wednesday was 1.66x 1.95x and 11.75x, respectively, indicative of aggressive bid especially for the 365-day paper.
In the day’s auction, total subscription amounted to N40.55 billion for the 91-day paper which was offered at N24.37 billion.
For the 182-day paper, a total subscription of N75.82 billion was made for its N38.75 offering, while for its 364-day paper, N610.98 billion was raised for its offer of N52 billion.
Stock market capitalisation on Wednesday dropped to N12.02 trillion, from N12.11 trillion, as the All Share Index (ASI) shed 0.71 percent to 32,244.24 points.
After the close of trading, Wednesday, Neimeth was the highest gainer after rising 9.84 percent to settle at 67 kobo. It was trailed by PZ which gained 9.35 percent to close at N13.45.
On the other hand, Union Diagnostics and Clinical Services closed at 28 kobo after shedding 9.68 percent to top the losers’ chart, while Oando followed with 9.66 percent loss to close at N6.55.
Though Buhari defeated his closest rival in the 2019 election with a margin of 56 percent to 41 percent which is higher than 53.96 percent to 44.96 percent recorded in the 2015 election, the votes in 2015 outnumber those of 2019.
In 2015, Buhari secured 53.96 percent of the votes (15.4 million) to defeat the then-incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, who had 44.96 percent (12.85 million) of the votes cast.
Announcing the results on Wednesday, Yakubu said the total number of accredited voters for the 2019 Presidential election stood at 29.36 million, total votes cast stood at 28.61 million, valid votes totalled 27.3 million, while rejected votes numbered 1.28 million.
Few days to the election, INEC released figures of the collected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), which is a requirement for participation in the process.
BusinessDay analysis of the figures shows that North-East had the highest collection rate at 93 percent, followed by North-West region with 90 percent collection rate, South-South region and North-Central with 87 percent each, and South-East and South West with 85 percent and 75 percent collection rate, respectively.
President Buhari dominated the North, winning in 15 states across the region, as well as four states in the South-West geopolitical zone.
On his part, Atiku cleared the 11 states in the South-East and South-South regions, Ondo and Oyo in the South-West, and four states in the North as well as the FCT.
Figures from the election also show pronounced voter apathy in the Southern region of the country as against an impressive turn-out of voters in the Northern region.
Buhari’s total votes plummeted in the South-West, but the impact was mitigated by a general low turnout in the region. For example, in the nation’s commercial centre, Lagos, with 5.53 million PVCs collected, only 1.1 million valid votes were cast.
The total votes recorded by the two main candidates in Abia State stand at 304,756, the lowest recorded among the 36 states of the country and FCT, compared to 381,697 recorded in 2015. This represents a 20 percent decline in the total number of votes cast for the two main candidates.
The highest total votes for the two main candidates came from the Northern state of Kano with 1.85 million votes.
Results from the election also showed some interesting trends. In the 2015 Presidential election, APC’s Buhari won in states such as Ondo and Oyo, but surprisingly, PDP’s Atiku won in these states in 2019, according to results released by INEC.
Also, states ravaged by insurgency in the North-East recorded massive turnout, undeterred by a reported attack on Maiduguri, Borno State capital, in the early hours of Saturday. Figures from the electoral body show that the two main candidates secured a total 908,284 votes in Borno State out of slightly over 2 million eligible voters that collected their PVCs.
Adamawa, another state in the North-East battling with insurgency, recorded a total 788,337 votes for the two main candidates, representing a 6 percent surge in the number recorded between the two main candidates in 2015.
Yobe State also recorded a total 548,677 votes for the two major candidates, up 16.29 percent from the 471,791 votes recorded in 2015.
Atiku, the main opposition candidate, has vowed to challenge the outcome of the election in the court in a message via his social media handle.
Atiku, a businessman and former vice president, cited glaring anomaly and disruption of voting in PDP strongholds in Lagos, Akwa-Ibom, Rivers, and diverse other states, accusing security agencies of doing little or nothing and, in some cases, facilitating these unfortunate situations.
OLUFIKAYO OWOEYE, OLUWASEGUN OLAKOYENIKAN & SEGUN ADAMS
