It’s My Turn Actually!’ Tinubu Says In Acceptance Speech

Actually, it’s my time now. A happy Bola Tinubu gushed an hour after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) proclaimed him the next president of Nigeria.

“I am incredibly honored to be the 16th President of our dear nation. This is a proud moment in any man’s life and a testament to the existence of democracy, he continued.

The former governor of Lagos State and APC presidential candidate praised everyone who voted on February 25 but specifically singled out supporters who were “Articulated,” “Obidients,” “Batified,” and “Kwankwasiyya.”

I’d want to use this occasion to ask my fellow competitors to allow us to form a team. Our only nation is that one. We must work together to establish our nation as one, he urged.

With victories in 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states and considerable support in several others, Tinubu, 70, received 8,794,726 votes, over two million more than former vice president and Peoples Democratic Party candidate Atiku Abubakar (PDP).

Abubakar, 76, who has now run for president six times, received 6,984,520 votes. In contrast, Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s (LP) candidate, who in less than a year galvanized young voters in a way that some have called unprecedented, came in second with only 6,717,580 votes.

The path to victory for Tinubu was anything but easy. He had to compete against power players and party insiders like Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Ahmed Lawan, and former Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, among others, to obtain his party’s ticket for the election.

He would go on to deliver his now-famous “Emilokan (It is my turn)” speech on June 2, 2022, after growing frustrated with the President’s apparent lack of support and reports of opposition from important members of the Presidency.

At the Presidential Lodge in Abeokuta, Ogun State, he addressed party delegates and declared, “It is the turn of the Yoruba, it is my turn.”