US and UK governments lead the way as the global community congratulates Tinubu on his victory

FOREIGN governments have continued sending congratulatory messages to Nigeria's new president-elect Asiwaju Bola Tinubu after he was declared the winner of Saturday's presidential polls by the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec).

Last Saturday, Nigerians went to the polls to elect a new president and in the early hours of yesterday morning, Inec declared Asiwaju Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the winner of the contest. Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Inec chairman who served as the returning officer for the election, declared Asiwaju Tinubu the winner with 8,794,726  votes, defeating his nearest opponent, former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who came second with 6,984,520 votes.

However,. the two main opposition parties, the PDP and the Labour Party have refused to concede defeat and have pledged to challenge the results in the law courts. Despite the fact that Nigeria is braced for a lengthy legal battle, foreign governments like the US and the UK have sent Asiwaju Tinubu congratulatory messages.

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak was one of the first to congratulate Nigeria on holding elections, taking to social media to do so. In his message, Mr Sunak expressed his willingness to work with Asiwaju Tinubu to grow security and trade ties, opening up opportunities for businesses and creating prosperity.

Mr Sunak tweeted: “Congratulations to Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his victory in Nigeria. The UK-Nigeria relationship remains strong.”

In a separate congratulatory message, UK foreign secretary James Cleverly commended Nigerian voters for their participation, patience and resilience in exercising their democratic rights. He added: “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.”

Acknowledging that the opposition parties have raised concerns, Mr Cleverly encouraged the authorities to examine all such concerns carefully. he then urged then to take action to resolve outstanding issues and focus on delivering the will of the Nigerian people.

Similarly, the US Department of State spokesperson, Ned Price, congratulated Asiwaju Tinubu and all political leaders on the results of the presidential election. He described the election as competitive and representing a new period for Nigerian politics and democracy.

Mr Price said: “Each of the top three candidates was the leading vote-getter in 12 states, a remarkable first in Nigeria’s modern political era, reflecting the diversity of views that characterised the campaign and the wishes of Nigeria’s voters.”

He acknowledged that many Nigerians and some of the parties have expressed frustration about the manner in which the process was conducted and the shortcomings of technical elements that were used for the first time in a presidential election cycle. Mr Price then encouraged parties seeking to challenge the outcome of elections to utilise well-established mechanisms in place for the adjudication of electoral disputes, calling on all parties, candidates and supporters to refrain from violence or inflammatory rhetoric at this critical time.

“Nigerians are clearly within their rights to have such concerns and should have high expectations for their electoral processes. We join other international observers in urging Inec to improve in the areas that need the most attention ahead of the March 11 gubernatorial elections,” Mr Price added.

On Tuesday, the Labour Party and PDP called for the cancellation of the results of the presidential elections, saying the election was a sham, and never free and fair. Their main grouse is that Inec failed to upload the results of elections in the over 170,000 polling units onto a central server as required by law, pointing out that this step should have been done before the collation and announcement of results.