National leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, emerged Tinubu wins APC presidential candidacy.
He also gained over 1,000 votes to defeat his closest rivals, former minister Rotimi Amaechi and vice president Yemi Osinbajo.
While Amaechi got 316 votes, Osinbajo got 235 votes.
He challenged thirteen other aspirants: Mr. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Mr. Ahmed Rufai, Senator Rochas Okorocha, Mr. Jack Rich, Governor Ben Ayade, Governor David Umahi, Senator Ahmed Yarima, Dr. Ahmed Lawan , Osinbajo, Amaechi, Governor Yahaya Bello and Mr. Ogbonnaya UN.
Nine aspirants had previously resigned, eight of whom asked their supporters to vote for Tinubu, while one asked his supporters to vote for Osinbajo.
Those who resigned before voting began are Jigawa Governor Abubakar Badaru, Robert Boroffice, Ken Nnamani, Ibikunle Amosun, Dimeji Bankole, Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi and Godswill Akpabio.
They asked their supporters to vote for Tinubu, just as the only aspiring woman, Ms. Uju Ken-Ohanneye, followed suit.
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Pastor Felix Nicholas, an aspiring resident of the United States of America, also resigned and asked his supporters to vote for Osinbajo.
One candidate, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, immediate past minister of state for education, was conspicuously absent from the convention.
Select members of the PCA gathered to choose the party’s candidate for next year’s elections to replace the president, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retired).
Tinubu will face, among others, Atiku Abubakar, 75, of the opposition Democratic Peoples’ Party, in the presidential ballot on February 25.
Also Read: APC Primaries: Governors present five names to Buhari, including Osinbajo, Tinubu, and three others
Buhari, who will step down after the two terms allowed by the constitution, had spent days before the convention negotiating with PCA leaders seeking unity on a party candidate.
“The fate of the party depends on what we do here,” said APC party chairman Abdullahi Adamu, echoing Buhari’s call for unity in the ranks.
“We can’t go to next year’s general election without putting our house together.”
