Fayose asks Atiku to concede defeat, insists Ayu must resign as PDP chair

Ayo Fayose, the former governor of Ekiti state, has asked Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to concede defeat in the presidential election.

Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared the winner of the presidential election in the early hours of Wednesday.

Mahmood Yakubu, chairperson of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced the results at the national collation centre in Abuja.

Yakubu said Tinubu secured a total of 8,794,726 votes while Atiku had the second-highest figure with 6,984,520 votes, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) was next with 6,101,533.

Reacting to Tinubu’s victory, Fayose called on the other presidential candidates to accept the outcome of the election.

“I congratulate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on his election as the next President of Nigeria,” he said.

“As the presidential election comes to an end, I urge other contestants, especially Atiku Abubakar to accept the outcome in the overall interest of our country. There will always be another day.”

The ex-governor also restated his call for the resignation of Iyorchia Ayu as the chairman of the PDP.

“As for the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, I call for his immediate resignation for his inability to move the party forward,” he said.

Fayose was one of the presidential hopefuls of the PDP but he lost to Atiku in the primary election.

On Monday, hours after Dino Melaye, spokesperson of the PDP campaign, protested the election results, Fayose said the PDP had no moral right “to cry foul”.

He also asked Atiku to retire “peacefully” to Dubai.