Nigeria swears in a new president amidst controversial events
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been sworn in as Nigeria’s 16th president. Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima took the Oath of Office administered by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Kayode Ariwoola, on Monday, May 29, 2023.
The former governor of Lagos State was declared the winner of the February 2023 presidential election by Nigeria’s electorial body, the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Tinubu scored 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest rival of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, who polled a total of 6,984,520 votes in the election while Peter Obi of the Labour Party came third in the election with a total of 6,101,533 votes.
Bola Tinubu, 71, won the election in February on a platform of restoring optimism, but he now faces significant economic and security difficulties. In the midst of severe inflation and record debt levels, he succeeds two-term President Muhammadu Buhari.
Based on the country’s current economic profile, inflation is at its highest rate in 2005, one in three people are unemployed and the output of the vital oil industry is shrinking.
Additionally, the circumstance surrounding the current president’s victory is a highly divisive subject amongst the Nigerian people. While there are a fraction of people fully in support the president’s victory, others are of the opinion that the election was a sham and a desecration of Nigeria’s democracy.
As a result, his opponent, Mr. Peter Obi of Nigeria’s Labor Party, continues to challenge the election’s result in court.
However, the president, during his inaugural speech, promised to work for the good of the country, noting that he doesn’t need anyone’s compassion to do his job.
“We have corruption, insecurity, and many problems confronting us… but don’t pity me. I asked for the job. I campaigned for it. No excuses. I will live up to expectation, I promise you,” he said.
