According to sources close to Yakubu, he left the country immediately after announcing the victory of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who defeated his closest rivals, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).
The announcement was made late in the early hours of March 1st at about 4am after days of collating and verifying results from across the country. INEC declared Tinubu of the APC the winner with a total of 8,794,726 votes, while Atiku Abubakar of the PDP got 6,984,520 votes and Peter Obi of the LP got 6,101,533 votes.
The election was conducted amidst tight security across the country, with reports of isolated cases of violence and ballot box snatching. The exercise was chaotic in some parts of the country, and the election results were rejected by the public.
The news of Yakubu's departure from the country has raised eyebrows, with many Nigerians questioning his sudden departure. Some have speculated that he may have received threats to his life or been pressured to leave the country by certain political interests.
Others have also raised concerns about the timing of his departure, which has come immediately after the announcement of the election results. There are fears that his departure could lead to a breakdown of law and order, as some opposition parties have rejected the results and called for protests.
In a statement, the APC commended Yakubu for his professionalism and impartiality during the election and urged all parties to accept the results in good faith.
The LP and PDP, on the other hand, rejected the results and accused INEC of colluding with the APC to rig the election. The party has vowed to challenge the results in court.