March 02, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has received recognition from the governments of the United States, Britain and France.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Wednesday, declared Tinubu winner of the February 25 presidential election.
Chief Returning Officer of the election, who doubled as Chairman of the INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, declared that Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to beat Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who got 6,984,520, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) who secured 6,101,533 votes.
Although, there is a huge outcry by opposition parties and election observers that the process through which Tinubu emerged as president-elect, was deficient. The congratulatory messages demonstrate acceptance and recognition of his victory by the Governments of those countries.
In recognition of his victory, the United States, through its State Department Spokesman, Ned Price, congratulated Nigeria and Tinubu.
Nigerians had hoped new biometric voter identification technology would make the election the cleanest yet, but malfunctions, long delays and slow results have fuelled the accusations of fraud.
Price acknowledged the discontent among some Nigerians over the validity of the results.
He said, “The United States congratulates the people of Nigeria, president-elect, Tinubu and all the political leaders.
“This competitive election represents a new period for Nigerian politics and democracy.
“We understand that many Nigerians and some of the parties have expressed frustration about the manner in which the process was conducted.
“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.”
Also, the United Kingdom has congratulated Bola Tinubu on his election victory.
In a statement, UK Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, commended voters for exercising their democratic rights.
Cleverly, however, urged opposition parties to seek legal ways of addressing issues and focus on delivering democracy.
His statement read, “The United Kingdom commends 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, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“We note the position of opposition parties on the election outcome and the concerns expressed by observer missions and civil society about the organisation of the process, including delays and technical challenges.
“We encourage the authorities to examine all concerns carefully, take action to resolve outstanding issues and focus on delivering the will of the Nigerian people.”
In the same vein, President Emmanuel Macron of France congratulated the former Lagos state governor on his victory at the polls.
Tinubu made this known while fielding questions from journalists after the presentation of his Certificate of Return.
He said he has received many congratulatory messages within and outside Nigeria, mentioning French President as one of them.
“Oh very many, many of that, in fact as far as Europe, the stock market reacted positively well, there was a goodwill message from Macron, the President of France”, Tinubu said.
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