*(CNN) — Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been declared the winner of Nigeria’s controversial presidential elections, as opposition leaders decry the polls as rigged and call for a fresh vote.
Tinubu represents the ruling All Progressives Congress party, which received close to 8.8 million votes, according to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman Mahmood Yakubu on Wednesday.
Videos from the capital Abuja show scattered applause after Yakubu announced the result.
This election is one of the most fiercely contested since the country returned to democratic rule in 1999, with 93 million people registered to vote and 87.2 million picking up their voter’s card overall, according to the INEC.
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Tinubu, the 70-year-old former governor of Lagos state, represents the same party as outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari, who Tinubu said he helped propel to the top seat in 2015.
Vote counting since Saturday’s polls has been vehemently challenged by many who allege the process has been marred by corruption and technical failures. On Tuesday, the country’s main opposition parties described the results of the election as “heavily doctored and manipulated” in a joint press conference.
The INEC has rejected these claims, with one spokesperson insisting the election process had been “free, fair, and credible.”
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