A spokesperson for the winner of last month’s Nigerian presidential election, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has accused the main opposition candidate of “staging a theatre of the absurd” after he led supporters in protest against the results of the vote.

Thousands of opposition supporters dressed in black and led by the runner-up in the 25 February presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, protested at the electoral commission’s headquarters in the capital, Abuja, on 6 March, blocking the entrance as they demanded a rerun.

Reacting to the protests, Mr Tinubu’s media and publicity director, Bayo Onanuga, said in a statement “what was on display today by Alhaji Atiku and his motley crowd was a new low from the perennial election loser”, the country’s Vanguard newspaper reported.

He added: “With Atiku staging a theatre of the absurd, we fail to see how a march to [the electoral commission] by a scanty crowd will provide any victory window for him and his fragmented PDP [ Peoples Democratic Party].

Mr Abubakar, a former vice-president who ran for the presidency for the sixth time, has vowed to challenge Tinubu’s win in the courts, alleging rigging and voter intimidation.

The electoral commission said Mr Tinubu won the election with 37% of the votes.