Nigeria's Bola Tinubu declared winner of presidential vote

 

Ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu was declared winner of Nigeria's presidential election early Wednesday and soon after thanked his supporters and appealed to his rivals who are already demanding a revote in Africa's most populous nation.

The announcement by election officials overnight was likely to lead to a court challenge by the second- and third-highest finishers in the weekend vote, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi. Abubakar also finished second in the last vote in 2019, then appealed those results before his lawsuit ultimately was dismissed.

French President to tour four central Africa nations

 

French President Emmanuel Macron will next week undertake a four-nation tour of central African countries, as Paris seeks to counter growing Chinese and Russian influence in the region.

Macron is to visit Gabon for an environmental summit, followed by Angola, then the Republic of Congo, and finally the Democratic Republic of Congo.

His visits come as alarm grows in Paris over the growing role of Russia in French-speaking African countries, alongside a Chinese push for influence that has been apparent for some years.

Nigeria election 2023: Early results arriving

 

Early results have started to arrive from Nigeria's tightest election since the end of military rule in 1999.

Official results from the south-western Ekiti state show a clear victory for ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu in one of his strongholds.

Further results are expected shortly.

Following widespread delays and attacks on some polling stations on Saturday, voting was postponed until Sunday in parts of the country so final results will take some time.

Kenya wrong to ban LGBT rights groups from registering - Supreme Court

Kenyan authorities were wrong to ban the gay community from registering a rights organisation, the country's Supreme Court has ruled.

Yet at the same time it stressed that gay sex remains illegal.

The judges ruled three-to-two that the country's NGO board was wrong to stop the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) from registering in 2013.

As Kenya's highest court, the Supreme Court's ruling cannot be overturned.

Nigeria election 2023: Votes are counted but final results may take days

 Vote counting is under way in Nigeria's tightest presidential election since military rule ended in 1999.

Voting was marred by long delays as polling stations failed to open on time in some areas because of logistical problems and security incidents.

Turnout appeared to be high, with many young, first-time voters arriving before dawn to cast their ballots.