United States President, Joe Biden
U.S urges INEC to ‘improve areas that need most attention,’ congratulates Nigerians on polls
United States Government has congratulated Nigerians, opposition political parties, the President-elect, as well as, other stakeholders over the results of the February 25 presidential election which produced Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as winner.
It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had, early Wednesday morning, declared Tinubu, as winner of the presidential election.
Announcing the final result of the poll, at about 4am, Wednesday inside the International Conference Centre, venue of the National Collation Centre, INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, said Tinubu polled the highest number of votes across the country.
A total of 18 presidential candidates contested the election held across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, on Saturday.
Reacting to the outcome of the polls, over 24 hours after the INEC declaration of a winner, the US’s State Department, in a statement, issued by its Spokesperson, Mr. Ned Price, Thursday, while describing the poll as ‘a new period for Nigerian politics and democracy, said it aligns other international observers in urging INEC to improve in the areas that need the most attention ahead of the March 11 gubernatorial elections.
“The United States congratulates the people of Nigeria, President-elect Tinubu, and all political leaders following the declaration by Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the results of the February 25 presidential election. This competitive election represents a new period for Nigerian politics and democracy. 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 characterized the campaign and the wishes of Nigeria’s voters.
“We understand 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. 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.
“There are well-established mechanisms in place for the adjudication of electoral disputes, and we encourage any candidate or party seeking to challenge the outcome to pursue redress through those mechanisms. We call on all parties, candidates, and supporters to refrain from violence or inflammatory rhetoric at this critical time.
“We commend the active participation of civil society and the media for advancing electoral norms and political discourse on issues of importance to citizens. We note with concern reports that numerous members of the media were attacked during the course of the election, and we urge the government, security forces, political actors, and all citizens to respect the media’s critical role by refraining from any damaging acts against them and ensuring accountability for such acts when they do occur. We also congratulate the Nigerian people, especially the large number of youths who are relatively new to the political process, for demonstrating their strong commitment to democracy,” read the statement.
