Buhari Leads Atiku With Slim Margins In Lagos, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti.

President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) may just have done enough to win four Southwest States, as results continue to trickle in from the general elections conducted on Saturday, February 23, 2019.

Pulse can confirm that Buhari defeated Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti, Lagos, Osun and Ogun—even if by the slimmest of margins.

Official data just arriving the Pulse Situation Room relays that Buhari polled 347, 674 votes in Osun while Atiku polled 337, 377 votes.

Buhari scored 219, 231 votes in Ekiti to beat Atiku who polled 154,032 votes. In Lagos, unconfirmed polling result handed Buhari 1,213,492 votes to Atiku’s 1,087,307.

It is unclear who is winning the presidential ballot in Oyo and Ondo at the time of filing this report, even though Pulse has been told that while Oyo remains too close to call, Atiku is leading in Ondo.

Pulse can also report that Buhari is leading Atiku in a handful of northern states.

We can also report that the PDP candidate is beating Buhari in traditional PDP strongholds in the Southeast and South-South regions of Nigeria.

For instance, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states, Pulse has been told, have gone the way of Atiku and the PDP.

In results from nine local governments officially announced on Sunday night in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Atiku won in eight, losing only one to Buhari.

Some of the results from Rivers are as follows: Oyigbo (APC – 3520; PDP – 16,102), Omuma (APC – 2494; PDP – 15322), ONELGA (APC – 10996; PDP – 28536), and Eleme (APC – 2412; PDP – 8464).

Atiku also won Gokana (APC – 9328; PDP – 10276) and Etche (APC – 7163; PDP – 11135).The other two won by Atiku were Governor Nyesom Wike’s Obio Akpor (APC – 6875; PDP – 69981) and his party chairman Uche Secondus’ Andoni (APC – 10766; PDP – 72330).

In the ninth LGA, Asari Toru, Buhari won with 8,180 votes, with Atiku polling 3,175 votes.Postponement of results announcementThe Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) put forward the collation and announcement of the vote from 6pm of Sunday, February 24 to 11am on Monday, February 25, because collation officers from the 36 states were yet to arrive the capital city of Abuja with their result sheets.

The presidential candidate with the most votes will be declared winner of the election as long as he obtains at least one-quarter of the votes cast in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states and the capital (that is 24 states).

Otherwise there is a run-off.