Abuja: Nigeria’s electoral commission today officially declared President Goodluck Jonathan winner of the country’s presidential election, as riots erupted in the largely Muslim north with people protesting the poll results.
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Attahiru Jega announced Jonathan’s victory in the presidential elections.
Jega said the incumbent president won by more than ten million vote margin and had enough spread of votes in the country’s 36 states to avoid a runoff.
INEC had earlier made election statistics public through an emailed press release but Nigeria’s constitution mandates the chairman to make a public declaration which must be followed by the issuance of a certificate of return to the winner.
The vote count showed Jonathan, a Christian from the southern oil-producing Niger Delta, had beaten Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler from the north.
Jonathan, 64, received 60.