The Labour Party’s Peter Obi narrowly defeated the ruling party’s Bola Tinubu in his heartland, results announced by state election officials show.
Mr Tinubu has won in his south-western strongholds of Ondo, Ekiti and Kwara, narrowly losing to Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun state, according to results announced by state election officials.
The results from the states still have to be formally announced by the head of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) at its headquarters in the capital, Abuja.
The delays in getting results from the states and the capital, Abuja, have led to growing frustration.
The electoral commission has apologised for the unresponsiveness of the results viewing page on its website, saying a surge in use caused technical hitches.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the PDP have dominated Nigeria since the end of military rule in 1999 but this time, Mr Obi from the previously little known Labour Party is expected to mount a strong challenge to the two-party system.
Why have results been slow in coming