Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has defeated Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State in a development that has ended the latter’s long grip in the state.
According to the results released by the the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Obi beat Tinubu, a former two-time state governor in the country’s commercial hub with 582,454 for Labour Party against Mr Tinubu’s 572,606 for the APC. The Peoples Democratic Party’s Atiku Abubakar came a distant third in the exercise.
Tinubu, the former governor of Lagos state who is vying to become the next head of state of Africa’s largest economy is supported by the ruling party of President Buhari.
Whoever wins in the polls will succeed President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29 after a three-month transition.
This year’s presidential elections appears to be the most open since the return of democracy in 1999. For the first time, three top candidates have been able to mount large campaigns throughout the vast nation. Obi has beaten his more established rivals in a series of opinion polls that the APC has dismissed.
