The postponed election goes ahead with voters choosing governors in 28 of Nigeria's 36 states.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu wins 8.8 million votes against 6.9 million and 6.1 million for rivals Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi respectively, according to official results.
As of Monday evening, electoral commission had only released official results from 10 of Nigeria's 36 states and the final count could take longer.
Atiku Abubakar won most ballots from delegates who voted in a primary election in the capital Abuja, beating competitor Ezenwo Nyesom Wike.
Many African governments and prominent political figures hire Trump-linked lobby groups in the US to ease sanctions against them.
Atiku Abubakar’s lawyer said the defeated candidate would challenge the "sham" result as he pledged to do so, after losing against the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari took 56 percent of the vote against 41 percent for his closest challenger, businessman and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party.
The disciplinarian former military ruler has been elected as president for the second time, but Buhari’s task is harder than it was before.
Nigeria's electoral body has declared incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari the winner of the country's presidential election after an election fraught with claims of rigging and collusion.
Some hours before the opening of polls on Saturday, multiple explosions rocked the northeastern city of Maiduguri, perhaps in a daring attempt to breed fear and discourage voting.
Although voting was peaceful in most areas of Nigeria on Saturday, there were a few outbreaks of violence in the vast West African country and many reports of delays at polling stations.
Nigeria counts votes in closely-fought presidential election even as voting continues in some units where polling opened late or ballot machines malfunctioned.
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