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HOME / Foreign News
Feb 25 Elections: US Reacts, Says Polls Failed To Meet Nigerians’ Expectaions
Published Mar 23, 2023 IN Foreign News,
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  • Urges INEC To Address Challenges

EIGHT days after Nigeria held its presi­dential poll, the United States, has said that the exercise failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians.

The Independent National Electoral Com­mission (INEC) declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the election after polling 8,794,726 votes, almost 2 million votes more than his closest rival — former Vice President Atiku Abuba­kar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Abubakar, 76, who has now run for presi­dent six times, got 6,984,520 votes, while the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, who, in less than a year, galva­nised young voters in a manner some have described as unprecedented finished the race with 6,101,533.

However, both Atiku and Obi have faulted the presidential election, vowing to chal­lenge the result in court.

In a statement, on Sunday, the US Ambas­sador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, said many citizens were angry and frustrated with the results, while some others were celebrating victories they believe were hard-fought and well-earned.

“It is clear that the electoral process as a whole on February 25 failed to meet Nigerians’ expectations,” the US Ambassador stated.

“As I said numerous times prior to the elections, Nigeria has accom­plished much in just the two-plus decades since the return to democracy and a gradual improvement in the quality of its elections in that time constitutes one of those accomplishments.

“The people of Nigeria demonstrated their dedica­tion to democracy on February 25, but there are many angry and frustrated Nigerians as well as many who are celebrating victories they believe were hard-fought and well-earned.

“In the coming days, it will be important for the future of this country that Nigerians not let their differences divide them, and that the legally established process for resolving challenges to the election be allowed to take its course.”

The US envoy called on INEC to promptly address the challenges that can be resolved ahead of the March 11 governorship elections, urging the electoral body to un­dertake a broader review of the problems that transpired during the last elections and what can be done to fix them.

She also commended Nigerians for demonstrating their dedication to democracy, asking INEC to share with the Nigerian public information about the actions it was taking.

Leonard commended Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar for their commitment to take the legal path in contesting the presidential elections and also the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, for acknowledging their right to do so.

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