Governments of the United States of America (USA) and United Kingdom (UK) have congratulated President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on his victory at the just concluded presidential polls.
“The United States congratulates the people of Nigeria, president-elect Tinubu and all the political leaders,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
“This competitive election represents a new period for Nigerian politics and democracy,” he added.
Price acknowledged the discontent among some Nigerians over the validity of the results, as at least one opposition figure has promised to dispute the outcome.
“We understand that many Nigerians and some of the parties have expressed frustration about the manner in which the process was conducted,” he said.
“Nigerians are clearly within their rights to have such concerns and should have high expectations for their electoral process,” Price said, urging political leaders to register their concerns through established legal “mechanisms.”
Nigerian officials had hoped new biometric voter identification technology would make the election the cleanest yet, but malfunctions, long delays and slow results have fueled the accusations of fraud.
“We call on all parties to refrain from violence or inflammatory rhetoric at this critical time,” Price said.
The UK in its congratulatory message sent through its Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, also called on the Nigerian authorities to address the concern of the opposition parties over the organisation of the election, which was marred by technical challenges as alluded to by civil society organisations and international observers.
James Cleverly said: “The United Kingdom lauds Nigerian voters for their participation in the Presidential and National Assembly elections and for their patience and resilience in exercising their democratic rights. We congratulate the President Elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“We note the position of oppositions on the election outcome and the concerns expressed by civil society and observer missions about the organisation of the process, which includes delays and technical challenges.
“We encourage the authorities to carefully examine all concerns, and take action to resolve outstanding issues on delivering the will of the Nigerians.”
