Explainer: What INEC’s 2023 results in Rivers and Delta actually show

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA – Rivers and Delta states, neighbours in the South-South, backed different presidential candidates in the February 25, 2023 election, according to results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, won Rivers, while Peter Obi, who ran on the Labour Party, LP, ticket, won Delta.

Rivers: Tinubu ahead by 56,520 votes

Tinubu polled 231,591 votes in Rivers, ahead of Obi’s 175,071. That put the APC candidate 56,520 votes clear of the runner-up.

Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, came third with 88,468 votes. Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, trailed with 1,322.

Delta: Obi’s commanding lead

Delta produced the wider margin. Obi scored 341,866 votes, against 161,600 for Atiku, a lead of 180,266 votes.

Tinubu managed 90,183 votes in Delta and finished third. Kwankwaso had 3,122.

What the two results show together

Taken together, the states reverse each other’s order. Tinubu won Rivers but placed third in Delta, while Obi won Delta and was runner-up in Rivers. Obi was the only candidate to finish in the top two in both states.

The combined figures tell a different story from the two state winners alone. Obi polled 516,937 votes across Rivers and Delta, compared with Tinubu’s 321,774. This is a difference of 195,163 votes in Obi’s favour, even though Tinubu took the state with the higher turnout of the two.

Obi’s vote in Delta alone, at 341,866, exceeded Tinubu’s combined total for both states by 20,092 votes.

Atiku polled 250,068 votes across the two states, finishing third in Rivers and second in Delta. Kwankwaso placed fourth in both, with 4,444 votes combined.

Tinubu’s support was uneven. He polled 231,591 votes in Rivers but only 90,183 in Delta, a drop of 141,408 votes between the two neighbouring states.