Tayo Olanipekun
The United States of America has congratulated the people of Nigeria on a successful presidential election as well as President Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election.
In a statement made available to National Wire on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, also expressed the commendation of the U.S. government to Nigerians for their peaceful participation in the election.
President Muhammadu Buhari was reelected for a four-year term on March 23,2019 in a presidential election his main opponent, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) have vowed to challenge in court.
The Transparency International (TI) in its weekly round up on Friday also described the election as one with an undermined process as it was preceded by the suspension of the head of the nation’s judiciary.
“Nigerians re-elected President Muhammadu Buhari, three weeks after his controversial move to suspend the country’s chief justice. This judge would have heard the legal challenges to the election results that have been filed by the opposition,” it noted.
The U.S. government, in its statement, condemned those involved in acts of violence which it said “harmed Nigerians and the electoral process.”
It also noted that the assessments of international and domestic observer missions affirmed the “overall credibility of the election, despite localized violence and irregularities.”
The same felicitation was also extended to the over 70 other presidential candidates as well as those that jostled for the National Assembly’s 109 Senate and the 360 House of Representatives seats.
“We also congratulate all the other candidates for their peaceful participation in the electoral process,” the statement said.
It,therefore, called on all Nigerians to ensure “successful state elections” in the governorship and state assembly elections scheduled for March 9,2019.
“Going forward, the United States remains committed to working together with Nigeria to achieve greater peace and prosperity for both our nations,” assured the Secretary of State.
