The United States on Wednesday has congratulated Nigeria and the ruling party presidential candidate Bola Tinubu while also telling Nigeria to be calm amid accusations of voter fraud and concerns over technical glitches.
“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.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, Tinubu, the candidate for the ruling All Progressives Congress, won 8.8 million votes, while main opposition candidates Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi snagged 6.9 million and 6.1 million, respectively.
Price acknowledged the discontent among some Nigerians over the validity of the results, as he urge all parties to refrain from any form of violence at this critical time.
“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.”
“We call on all parties to refrain from violence or inflammatory rhetoric at this critical time,” Price said.
