At the International Conference Centre in Abuja, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) started compiling the results again on Monday.
About midday, Mahmood Yakubu, the national chairman of INEC, opened the floor for the second day of the collation.
After the presentation of the Ekiti State results on Sunday night, the electoral head called the meeting to a close. Yakubu had called a recess in order to give the 35 additional states and the Federal Capital Territory time to set up their state collation officers for the presidential election (SCOPs).
Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) received 136,909 votes, trailing Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who received 263,572 votes in Kwara.
Although Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) received 3,141 votes, Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) received 31,166 votes.
The APC received 343,945, LP 23,283, NNPP 713, and PDP 354,366 votes in Osun.
In Ondo, the APC received 369,924 votes, the LP 44,405, the NNPP 930, and the PDP 115,463.
Mahmood added that the results of the presidential election will be tallied at four different levels: first, at the 8,889 wards, then, at the 774 local government areas, and last, at the SCOPs in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, which would then transmit the results to Abuja.
The collation center will be operational day and night with brief pauses, according to the electoral chief.
He also advised political parties to always use INEC data when calculating their results.
Being the only agency legally tasked with disseminating official election results, Yakubu emphasized, “I encourage all political parties and media organizations to draw their statistics only from the official results issued by the commission.”
Nigerians anticipate the announcement of the results by the electoral umpire after elections for the presidency, 360 House of Representatives members, and 109 Senate seats were held on Saturday in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Notwithstanding the fact that there are 18 candidates running, pollsters and commentators have labeled the race a four-horse fight between Kwankwaso, Atiku, Tinubu, and Obi.
Both Kwankwaso and Atiku are natives of northern Nigeria, and Obi and Tinubu are from the country’s southern region. The two terms of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is up for reelection on May 29, 2023, are set to expire, and the four heavyweights and leading contenders each enjoy significant support.
Most of Nigeria’s 176,606 polling places held elections, and 87.2 million voters with Permanent Voter Cards cast ballots for their respective candidates.