Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy joins the ranks of world leaders congratulating Tinubu

UKRANIAN president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has joined the tanks of world leaders congratulating former Lagos State governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu over his recent election as Nigeria's next president.

Nigerians went to the polls on Saturday to elect a new president and in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) declared Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner. 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 who came second with 6,984,520 votes.

Following the announcement of a winner, congratulations have been pouring in for the president-elect, with British prime minister Rishi Sunak, one of the first to send Asiwaju Tinubu a message. While congratulating Asiwaju Tinubu, President Zelensky, said his country was ready to work with Nigeria to overcome global challenges including threats to food security.

He tweeted a message which read:  “Congratulations to Bola Ahmed Tinubu on winning the Nigerian presidential election. I look forward to close cooperation.

"I’m convinced that bilateral interaction will be strengthened. Ukraine is ready to work together to overcome global challenges, including threats to food security.”

Like Nigeria, Ukraine is a major agricultural goods producer and due to its war with Ukraine, global supplies have been badly affected.  Nigeria has been urged to step into the breach by increasing its grain output to make up for the Ukrainian shortfall.