President Muhammadu Buhari has officially triumphed in Nigeria's election race ahead of rival and former vice president Atiku Abubakar.
Nigeria's electoral commission declared the final result at 3am (local time). Earlier official and provisional results showed Atiku could not catch Buhari in the race to lead Africa's largest economy and oil producer.
Buhari received 15.1 million votes, the electoral commission said in making its official declaration, while Abubakar received 11.2 million.
The average national turnout was 35.6 per cent, continuing a downward trend.
Opposition rejects result
Nigeria's opposition leader on Wednesday rejected the result.
"If I had lost in a free and fair election, I would have called the victor within seconds of my being aware of his victory to offer not just my congratulations, but my services to help unite Nigeria by being a bridge between the North and the South," Atiku Abubakar said in a statement.
"Consequently, I hereby reject the result of the February 23, 2019 sham election and will be challenging it in court."
The had earlier demanded an immediate halt to the release of results by the electoral commission until data on voters who took part was made available to all the competing parties.
Atiku's party said the tallies were "incorrect and unacceptable," while Buhari's party said the opposition was trying to discredit the election.
The candidate with the most votes nationwide is declared winner as long as they have at least one-quarter of the vote in two-thirds of Nigeria's states and the capital, otherwise there is a run-off.
Vote marred by delays
The Atiku camp's accusations ratcheted up tensions after the vote had to be delayed by a week, blamed on logistical glitches.
The event - Africa's largest democratic exercise - was also marred by violence in which at least 47 people have been killed since Saturday. More than 260 people have been killed since the start of the campaign in October.
Buhari, 76, is a former military ruler who took office in 2015 and sought a second term with pledges to fight corruption and build infrastructure.
- additional reporting AFP
