by Chi Ibe

And we have a winner – at least for the popular vote! The Y!/YNaija.com voting for Person of the Year 2013 began in November, and as announced, the overall winner will be unveiled to the public by the editors on 30 December.

Before that, we have tallied the popular votes – and the winner by a far margin on the poll on this site is…. Aliko Dangote, founder and chief executive officer of the Dangote Group!

The entrepreneur and Africa’s richest man has clearly become a man of the people, grabbing 29% of the vote to his nearest competitor, former minister and civil society champion, Obiageli Ezekwesili who got 14% of the votes. Rather interestingly, fellow minister under the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency who now serves under an arguably more unpopular government, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was next on the line with 11%. Full breakdown of the votes by percentage are below:

Aliko Dangote (29%, 245 Votes)
Obiageli Ezekwesili (14%, 115 Votes)
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (11%, 95 Votes)
Bola Tinubu (10%, 83 Votes)
Akinwunmi Adesina (10%, 82 Votes)
Sim Shagaya (7%, 59 Votes)
Mike Adenuga (6%, 54 Votes)
Omobola Johnson (5%, 38 Votes)
Jason Njoku (4%, 32 Votes)
Tony O. Elumelu (4%, 32 Votes)

The voting was announced to close on Friday, 15 November and was extended by a week, formally closing at noon on Monday, 23 December. Well done to all the readers who voted, and all the campaigners on social media across Facebook and Twitter! Fans and followers of Sim Shagaya, Jason Njoku, Mike Adenuga and Akinwunmi Adesina are particularly noted for their full-throttle engagement with and campaign through the process.

The Y!/YNaija.com Person of the Year is in its third year and is awarded this year to the individual who has most visibly influenced the Nigerian society for good in the past year, breaking new boundaries or consolidating on gains – and driving the advancement of the public, especially young people.

[READ: ‘No one is YNaija Person of the Year 2011’]

The editors announced there was no winner for its first edition in 2011. The 2012 winner was entrepreneur and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.

[READ: YNaija Editorial: Aliko Dangote is YNaija Person of the Year 2012… Let’s tell you why]

The highly anticipated overall winner, which will be announced after assessment by the editors of Y!/YNaija.com will be made on Monday, 30 December. The popular vote will be taken into consideration but is not the deciding factor.

We begin counting down!