Nigeria opts for continuity. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the candidate of the ruling party, has been declared the winner of the elections with 37% of the vote. His main rivals in the closest elections in the African country's recent history, veteran Atiku Abubakar and political newcomer Peter Obi, got 29% and 25% respectively.
Despite the declared Obimania among young Nigerians, the irruption of a candidate outside the parties in power like Obi was ultimately insufficient to bring about a change in Nigerian politics.
Almost all the opposition parties rejected the result and denounced the manipulation of a count that suffered various technical problems due, according to the Nigerian Electoral Commission, to the introduction of a new technology that generated various unforeseen events.
Despite the opposition's en bloc indignation, the distance in votes is notable and it is unlikely that complaints will prosper. Nigeria will have a new president in the figure of Tinubu, a 70-year-old politician who has spent his entire life in the shadow of power.
Former governor of Lagos, Tinubu will become the country's fifth president since the end of military rule and will replace his fellow party member, Muhamadu Buhari, who was unable to run again after serving two terms in power.
The new president will have to face the jihadist violence in the north of the country, the economic crisis and the unemployment that grips the most populous nation in Africa with 225 million inhabitants.
After confirming his victory, "El Padrino", as he is known for his influence in getting others to power in the past, reached out to his rivals and called for peace in his first televised speech. “I take the opportunity to ask my rivals to team up together. This is the only nation we have. We only have one country and we must build it together.”
