Politics

Five Factors That Helped Tinubu Win Presidential Election

Published

3 years ago

March 4, 2023

The president-elect, Bola Tinubu emerged through a highly contested presidential election and he is expected to be sworn in as the 16th president of Nigeria.

The former Lagos State governor emerged despite several polls by different organizations that wrote him off. Also, the naira redesigning policy almost torpedoed his presidential ambition at the last minute but barring any court pronouncement, he will be sworn in as president on 29 May.

In this piece, DAILY POST will review the five major factors that paved the way for him to emerge against all odds.

A divided opposition

Tinubu went into the election against a fragmented opposition. In 2019, Abubakar Atiku, Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso all worked together in PDP but they were defeated by the force of Muhammadu Buhari.

Despite the defeat, PDP maintained its stronghold in the Southeast and Southsouth and also put out good showings in Southwest and Northcentral.

On Saturday, the APC instead faced Obi in Labour Party, Kwankwaso in NNPP and Atiku in PDP. In addition, some members of the G5 governors were believed to have worked for the ruling party.

At the close of the poll, Kwankwaso maintained its hold on Kano, Obi held on to Southeast and Southsouth while Atiku had a good outing in the North, however, their individual performances were not sufficient to defeat the ruling party.

Northcentral came to rescue

Several opinion polls before the election ceded Northcentral to the candidate of the Labour Party but the ruling party pulled a surprise in the region by winning four states, including Benue State.

The party won Kwara, Kogi, Niger, and Benue States. It would be recalled that no one has won the presidential election without winning the Northcentral.

Second position is good

One other factor that helped the ruling party was the ability to secure the second position in a worst-case scenario.

For instance, in Kano State, the NNPP won the state with a wide margin, however, the margin between Tinubu and Atiku was over 380,000 votes. Considering that Atiku was the main contender to Tinubu in the Northwest, the second position was good enough.

In a four-horse race, winning your stronghold is important but how you perform in your opponent’s territory matters.

In the Northwest, Tinubu lost Katsina, Sokoto and Kebbi States by slim margins to Atiku.

In Plateau, Akwa-Ibom, Nasarawa—he was also able to maintain second position.

Strong Allies

The victory of Tinubu in Benue State could be credited to the influence of Father Hyacinth Alia, the APC governorship candidate in Benue State.

In Sokoto State, Aliyu Wamakko ensured that the Director General of the Atiku Campaign, Governor Aminu Tambuwal was unable to deliver Sokoto to Atiku with a wide margin.

In Katsina, President Muhammadu Buhari had to show his ballot to voters to give them a signal on how to vote.

The presence of Godswill Akpabio in Akwa-Ibom helped to get the second position while Governor Nyesom Wike pulled what could have been considered impossible—for the first time, APC won in Rivers State.

Poor performance of Atiku in the South

Some supporters of the former Vice President had in the course of the campaign bragged about the 11 million votes. However, what they failed to consider was that bulk of it came from the south.

Unlike the 2019 election, Atiku performed poorly in the South and Northcentral.

He failed to win a single state in Northcentral and won only three states out of the 17 states in the south—Osun, Akwa- and Bayelsa.

Even his running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa failed to win his state, Delta State.

All these factors gave Tinubu a win at the polls.
DAILY POST

Related Topics:##NigeriaElections2023 #Tinubu

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Politics

Ambassadorial Nominees: Ndume Asks Tinubu To Withdraw List

Published

23 hours ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

Ahead of the Senate’s screening and confirmation of the ambassadorial nominees sent to the Red Chamber by the Presidency, former Senate Leader Ali Ndume has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to withdraw the list from parliament.

The federal lawmaker declared that the composition of nominees was in clear breach of the Federal Character principle, as enshrined in the Constitution.

Checks revealed that while certain states have three and four nominees, states like Gombe have no representation, while the only nominee from Yobe, Senator Adamu Garba Talba, died last July.

The entire North East state has 7 nominees in the list.

Further checks revealed that the South West geopolitical zone has 15 nominees, while the North West and South East have 13 and 9, respectively.

North Central region has 10 nominees in the list of career and non-career ambassadorial nominees, while South South region has 12 nominees.

The Senate President at plenary on Thursday formally read the list of nominees and referred it to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs for further legislative action.

The Senator representing Borno South in a statement issued on Saturday maintained that the list of nominees was in clear breach of Section 14(3) of the Nigerian Constitution which mandates that the composition and conduct of the federal government must reflect the “federal character of Nigeria” to ensure national unity and loyalty.

The section reads: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.”

The former Chief Whip of the Senate admonished President Tinubu to avoid taking decision that will fuel ethnic tension and promote distrust in the country, amidst the wrong narrative being promoted by the Western world against his administration.

He said: “My sincere appeal to President Tinubu is to withdraw this list. At this critical time in the life of his administration, he should avoid missteps that could endanger national unity and promote ethnic distrust.

“I know him to be a cosmopolitan leader who is at home with every segment and stakeholders in the country.

“He should withdraw that list and present a fresh set of nominees that will align with the spirit of the Constitution on Federal Character Principle that government’s structure and operations must represent the diverse states and peoples of Nigeria.”

Politics

PDP Issues Certificate Of Expulsion To Wike, Fayose, Anyanwu, Others

Published

5 days ago

December 3, 2025

Editor

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it has issued certificate of expulsion from the party to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and other 10 members earlier expelled from the party.

The party National Chairman, Tanimu Turaki, disclosed this while speaking with newsmen after the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.

The other members, according to him, include the embattled National Secretary, Sen. Samuel Anyanwu, the Legal Adviser, Kamarudeen Ajibade, former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose.

They also included Sen. Mao Ohuabunwa, Austin Nwachukwu, Abraham Amah Nnanna, George Turna and Chief Dan Orbih, expelled during the party National convention in Lagos.

Turaki said that the original copies of the certificate had been dispatched to the owners through a courier service to serve as proof that they were expelled from the PDP.

“We have taken note of the fact that Nigerian law frowns on dual membership of political parties, and so we have sought to make it easy for them.

“Now that they are no longer members of our party, and now that the National Convention, which is the highest decision-making organ of our party, has expelled them, we have decided to issue them certificates of expulsion.

“So, when they go to register with other political parties in Nigeria, they will show these certificates as proof that they are no longer members of the PDP.

“By that, those parties will not accuse them of trying to belong to more than one political party,” he said.

He called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies, including the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Services, and other government agencies, to take note.

“Very soon, members of the society will be informed via proper disclaimers that any person henceforth who decides to do business with them, any or all of them, does so at his or her own risk.

“They are no longer members of the PDP. They have been expelled,” he added.

He added that the NWC also reviewed some of the cases filed against the party and lawsuits instituted by the party, particularly the one that related to the “unlawful and illegal” closure of the party’s national Secretariat, the Legacy House, and the Wadata Plaza.

“The brief we received from our lawyers is that we are on sound ground, and that very soon, the law will take its course,” he said.

Turaki said the NWC was prepared to be saddled with the responsibility of performing its functions as the leading opposition party in Nigeria.

“We are going to provide a credible alternative to Nigerians. We are going to provide credible leadership to Nigerians by the special grace of God from 2027,” he said.

Politics

Adebayo Adedamola Wins Osun PDP Governorship Primary

Published

6 days ago

December 2, 2025

Editor

Adebayo Olugbenga Adedamola, popularly known as FRYO, has emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate for the August 8, 2026 governorship election in Osun State.

The primary election took place in Osogbo on Tuesday amid heavy security presence.

Announcing the result, chairman of the primary election committee, Humphrey Abba, stated that Adebayo secured 919 votes out of 957 accredited ballots, giving him a clear victory in the contest.

Explaining that there were 20 void votes following the withdrawal of one of the candidates, believed to be Governor Ademola Adeleke, Abba added, “The candidate that got the remaining votes is Adebayo Adedamola with 919 votes and he stands elected and returned.”

DAILY POST reports that despite announcing his resignation from the party, Adeleke’s name appeared on the ballot paper for the PDP governorship primary.

Party officials said the exercise was conducted in accordance with established guidelines, with accredited delegates participating in the voting process.

Adeleke announced his resignation in a letter dated November 4, 2025, and addressed to the PDP leadership at his ward.

On Monday, Osun PDP chairman, Sunday Bisi, had announced that the governorship primary slated for Tuesday, December 2, 2025, has been postponed due to leadership crisis at the national level.

But a faction of the party went ahead with the exercise in Osogbo on Tuesday.