‘I agree to be your servant and not leader’ – Tinubu declares in acceptance speech

Nigeria’s president-elect Bola Tinubu has told Nigerians that the mandate given to him by the electorates “is a serious mandate, I hereby accept it.”

Tinubu in his acceptance speech after his declaration as president by INEC on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, promised to be a servant and not a leader to Nigerians.

Four days after a hotly contested presidential election in the world’s most populous black nation, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, declared Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner with 8,794,726 votes, the lowest a presidential candidate has ever polled to emerge Nigeria’s president since the country’s return to democracy in 1999.

“I am profoundly humbled that you’ve elected me to serve as the 16th president,” Tinubu said. “I promise I’ll work with you to make Nigeria a destination of returning home to contribute to the development.”

Tinubu also restated his campaign promise that there would be no strike in Nigerian tertiary institutions under his presidency.

The president-elect also thanked supporters of his opponents for contributing to the democratic process through their votes.

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Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media, Garba Shehu, has congratulated Tinubu on his emergence as president-elect.

Buhari also called on candidates of the opposition parties who may not be pleased with the outcome of the election to seek redress in court.

The three major contenders had called for the cancellation of the election citing manipulation and irregularities.