BOLA TINUBU WON NIGERIAN CONTROVERSIAL ELECTION

Bola Tenubu: Nigeria President elect

Nigeria's electoral commission said on Wednesday ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu had won last week's Presidential elections. 

The major opposition parties have complained of irregularities and rejected the result as fraudulent. There have been reports of violence and intimidation, although not on the scale of previous elections.

Here are details of the election process and votes tallied.

WHO WERE THE MAIN CANDIDATES?

HOW WERE THE VOTES TALLIED?

Candidates were running for president but only three were seen as having a realistic chance. They were Tinubu from the governing All Progressives Congress party (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the smaller Labour Party (LP).

A fourth contender, Rabiu Kwankwaso, of the New Nigeria People's Party (NNPP), received votes in parts of the north.

According to final Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) tallies from all 36 states and the federal capital Abuja, Tinubu garnered about 36.6% or 8.79 million of valid votes counted from the weekend election, while Atiku trailed behind with 29.1% or 6.98 million of valid votes.

Obi received 25.4%, or about 6.1 million votes.

Results from 176,846 polling stations were counted manually and were then to be relayed electronically to the INEC headquarters in Abuja, for posting on its website.

The results were also tallied at the ward, local government and state level. A returning officer from each state was to travel to Abuja with a tally sheet, to be compared against results sent directly by polling stations to the national collation centre.

To win the presidential election, a candidate needed a simple majority, and have at least a quarter of the votes cast in at least two-thirds of the 36 states and Abuja, which Tinubu did.

But on the other hand, Nigerian opposition party has said it will launch a legal challenge after Bola Ahmed Tinubu was declared the winner of Nigerian election

Tinubu, 70, represents the ruling All Progressives Congress party, which received close to 8.8 million votes -- about 36.6% of the total, according to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman Mahmood Yakubu.

He defeated vice president Atiku Abubakar of the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP), and a third leading candidate Peter Obi, who gained popularity among young people with his lesser-known Labour Party.

"We won this election as Labour Party, we are going to claim our mandate as Labour Party," said Datti-Baba Ahmad, the party's Vice Presidential candidate.

Obi is yet to comment on the official results.

However, Ndi Kato, Labour Party's presidential campaign spokesperson told CNN on Wednesday: "We are defiant. The elections were rigged."

in his acceptance speech, Tinubu struck a conciliatory tone, asking his opponents "to team up together."

"It (Nigeria) is the only nation we have. It is one country, and we must build together. Let's work together to put broken pieces together," he said.

Tinubu also thanked voters and said he was "profoundly humbled."

"This is a shining moment in the life of any man and an affirmation of our democratic existence," he said. "I represent a promise and with your support, I know that promise will be fulfilled."

Videos from the capital Abuja showed Tinubu's supporters cheering and celebrating the win.