Nigeria’s elections: US, France, UK, felicitate Tinubu, urge citizens to refrain from violence

Congratulatory and goodwill messages have continued to pour in for the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress following his emergence in the February 25 poll.

Some leading lights of the International Community including the United States, United Kingdom and France have congratulated Tinubu.

Persecondnews reported that on Wednesday (March 1) the Certificate of Return was presented to Tinubu in Abuja by INEC having polled 8.8 million votes to beat PDP’s Atiku Abubakar (6.9 million) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who secured 6.1 million votes.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made the presentation at an occasion attended by foreign observers, governors, journalists and politicians.

The United States of America through its State Department spokesman Ned Price: “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.”

Price acknowledged the dissatisfaction among some Nigerians over the validity of the results, but called on Nigeria as the largest African country to embrace peace.

“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.”

Similarly, the British Prime Minister, Mr Rishi Sunak, tweeted on Wednesday: “Congratulations to Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his victory in Nigeria.

“The UK-Nigeria relationship remains strong. I look forward to working together to grow our security and trade ties, opening up opportunities for businesses and creating prosperity in both our countries.”

From France comes a message by President Emmanuel Macron, congratulating Tinubu.