Nigeria's Ruling Party Wins Lagos State in Gubernatorial Poll

(Bloomberg) -- Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress maintained its hold on the economic capital, Lagos, in state elections Saturday and boosted its control of the National Assembly, strengthening President Muhammadu Buhari’s grip on power.

The APC’s Babajide Sanwo-Olu was elected governor of Lagos, the Independent National Electoral Commission said Sunday. The city-state has 15 million to 20 million people and an economy of roughly $80 billion, according to Fitch Ratings Ltd., which makes it bigger than Ghana and similar to Kenya and Ethiopia. It was one of the hotly contested seats in the gubernatorial poll that took place in 29 of Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The balloting was the second round of general elections that saw Buhari win a new and final four-year term on Feb. 23. The disputed votes have been marred by violence that claimed the lives of at least 58 people, according to the Situation Room, a group of civil society organizations that monitored the polls.

Buhari’s APC won a majority in the lower and upper chambers of the national legislative assembly during last month’s vote, INEC results showed.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tope Alake in Lagos at talake@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net, Sophie Mongalvy, Karl Maier

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