His most prominent challenger, former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, could only muster 954 votes and he conceded as Buhari's soared towards 3,000, with counting not even finished.
"Congratulations General Buhari. The delegates have spoken, you fully deserve the victory," Abubakar said on his Twitter account @atiku.
He later pledged his backing for the former general in a concession speech posted on his website atiku.org.
"I am very confident that you will provide the leadership to turn this country round," he said.
Buhari ended up with 3,430 votes. Kano state governor Rabiu Kwankwaso won 974, with the rest shared between two other candidates.
- Front runner -
Last time round in 2011, Jonathan secured nearly 22.5 million votes or nearly 59 percent of the ballots cast. Buhari, then on the Congress for Progressive Change ticket, scored 12.2 million or nearly 32 percent.
Three days of rioting broke out across northern Nigeria after the voting in 2011, leaving some 800 people dead.
The February 14, 2015 vote is expected to the closest since Nigeria returned to democracy 15 years ago, with the opposition -- a coalition of four parties -- stronger than ever.
Buhari has a reputation for cracking down on corruption from his time in power and the APC has campaigned hard on what it sees as Jonathan's lack of action against high-level graft and impunity.
In a sign of the almost daily violence in the troubled north, two female suicide bombers on Wednesday detonated their explosives at a crowded textile market in the northern city of Kano.
Four people were killed and seven others injured, according to the police. Eleven people were also killed in Gajiganna, in the restive northeastern state of Borno, residents and officials said.
- Govern not rule -
Signs that Buhari would clinch the nomination came in the early hours of Thursday as the five candidates gave speeches to delegates.
The ex-dictator known for his "War Against Indiscipline" while in power in the 1980s won the loudest cheers as he took the stand and told the crowd: "I am not a rich person.
"I can't give you a pocketful of dollars or naira to purchase your support. Even if I could, I would not do so. The fate of this nation is not up for sale.
"What I will give you, and this nation is all of my strength, commitment, sweat and toil in the service of the people. What I can give you is my all.
"I do not intend to rule Nigeria. I want to democratically govern it with your help."
Commentators saw Buhari's closeness to the APC's political godfather Bola Tinubu as a strong indication that he would win, as well as the perceived drawbacks of Abubakar.
Abubakar, 68, was vice-president for eight years under president Olusegun Obasanjo and is a consummate political operator but has been dogged by persistent allegations of corruption from his past.
Buhari, who also lost to Jonathan's predecessor Umaru Musa Yar'Adua in 2007 and Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003, has a wide following in the Muslim-majority north.
He may benefit from a more well-organised party machine than last time round.
But
the APC has voiced concerns about whether the vote will even hold in
areas of the northeast blighted by Boko Haram violence, which they warn
could cast doubt on the overall result.
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