Bola Tinubu sworn in as Nigeria’s president

Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos state and longstanding kingmaker in Nigerian politics, has been sworn in as Nigeria’s seventh democratically elected president.

Mr Tinubu took the oath of office accompanied by his wife, Remi, and son, Seyi. Former President Muhammadu Buhari stood by his side wearing dim glasses and folding his arms.

After Mr Tinubu pledged allegiance to the constitution, his supporters at the Eagles Square broke into traditional Yoruba songs in celebration as the crowd cheered at an event witnessed by former government officials, world leaders and diplomats.

Vice president Shettima was sworn in minutes earlier, accompanied by his family.

– Controversial win

Mr Tinubu was declared the winner of the 2023 presidential election which major opposition parties have rejected as a sham.

The electoral commission, Inec, said Mr Tinubu, 70, scored 37% of the vote, extending the reign of his ruling All Progressives Congress. Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party polled 29% while Labour Party’s Peter Obi got 25%.

The two opposition parties have called for the cancellation of the vote saying it was marred by vote theft, violence and voter suppression. Their cases are being heard by the presidential election tribunal.

At the time he Mr Tinubu was declared winner, 26% of election results from polling centres had not been updated on Inec’s website, contrary to guidelines demanding they be transmitted electronically to avoid manipulation of results.

The opposition parties say the failure to upload them had allowed results to be tampered with.

– Wielding influence

Mr Tinubu, a former accountant with Mobil and Deloitte & Touche, is one of Nigeria’s richest politicians. He was involved in the fight against military rule in Nigeria and went into exile during the iron-fist rule of the dictator Sani Abacha in the 1990s, before helping to midwife the return to democracy in 1999 after Mr Abacha’s death.

Mr Tinubu was governor of Lagos between 1999 and 2007 and continued to wield immense political influence in the state and the southwest region, playing a lead role in the emergence of his three successors.

Mr Tinubu based his campaign on his record of rebuilding Lagos, but he was defeated there by Mr Obi in a major upset of the election. The APC candidate won in most other states in his native southwest region.

President Buhari stepped down after two terms in office, marked by horrendous insecurity and economic failures.

The new president has the task of solving those problems.  He faces fuel and electricity shortages as well as high inflation, unemployment and huge debt left by the Buhari administration. He will also have to unite a country divided by a bitter electioneering that frequently touched on the country’s sensitive fault lines of ethnicity and religion.