Kayode Fayemi, former governor of Ekiti state, has asked Bola Tinubu, the president-elect, to focus on building a government of national unity.

In the early hours of Wednesday, Mahmood Yakubu, chairperson of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), declared Tinubu as president-elect after he secured a total of 8,794,726 votes to beat the other candidates.

Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had the second-highest figure with 6,984,520 votes, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) was next with 6,101,533 votes.

In a congratulatory statement, Fayemi said Tinubu’s political resilience, brilliance, and shrewdness positioned him for victory at the polls, adding that he would work hard to develop and sustain progressive ideology in Nigeria.

‘’I congratulate the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on his victory in the 2023 presidential election. It was a hard-fought win, which demonstrates the crowning of Asiwaju’s efforts and vision for Nigeria,” Fayemi said.

‘’With the Asiwaju I know, I trust that his administration will fight for the interests of ordinary Nigerians and work hard to achieve our national goals of peace, unity, and economic prosperity. While Asiwaju might have been the presidential candidate of the APC, he would be president of all Nigerians and promote unity, equity, and fairness.

‘’I thank all members of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) and loyal party men and women across the length and breadth of the country who worked hard for our party’s victory at the polls. This victory would not have been possible without the diligence and faithfulness of our members.

‘’I also wish to thank Nigerians who have trusted our party with presidential leadership again. I want to assure Nigerians that we will not disappoint and implement as faithfully as possible our presidential campaign manifesto.”

The former chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) called on political leaders to avoid inciting remarks, adding that there would be more opportunities in the future.

‘’I use this opportunity to reiterate my earlier appeal that political leaders and actors should shun inflammatory remarks, and encourage their followers to do the same. We cannot burn down our country or truncate this precious democracy because of one electoral loss. There will be more electoral opportunities in the future,” Fayemi said.

“I would also like to urge the victorious candidate and our party to seriously consider a government of national unity given the excellent performance of the opposition political parties. In this historic election cycle, there is no victor and no vanquished. This is not a time for triumphalism but a time to celebrate the resilience of ordinary Nigerians with sobriety.”