The governing party candidate, Bola Tinubu, was declared the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election early on Wednesday.

Soon after, he thanked his supporters and appealed to his rivals, who have been demanding revoting in Africa’s most populous nation, to accept the result.

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 finished second in the 2019 polls, and he appealed the results before his lawsuit was ultimately dismissed.

Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress party urged the opposition to accept defeat and not cause trouble after they demanded revoting saying that delays in uploading election results had made room for irregularities.

Tinubu received nearly 8.8 million votes, or 37 percent, while the main opposition candidate, Abubakar, won 29 percent. Third-place finisher Obi took 25 percent with about 6.1 million votes, according to the results announced on live television by the Independent National Electoral Commission.