Poll: The United States commends Obi and Atiku for choosing the legal route on March 6, 2023. By Gift Habib The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Leonard, has stated that Nigerians’ expectations for the presidential and national assembly elections held on February 25 were not met.
However, Leonard praised the Labour Party and Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidates, Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, for opting to challenge the election results in court rather than resorting to violence in an op-ed published on Sunday titled “The Elections of February 25.”
To the dismay of Obi and Atiku, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, as the poll’s winner.
The US ambassador said that the poll on February 25 had mixed results and urged INEC to fix the problems before the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections on March 11.
She stated, “The people of Nigeria demonstrated their dedication to democracy on February 25, but there are many Nigerians who are celebrating victories they believe were hard-fought and well-earned as well as many who are angry and frustrated.”
“It is evident that the entire electoral process on February 25 did not live up to the expectations of Nigerians. As I repeatedly stated prior to the elections, Nigeria has accomplished a lot in the more than two decades since its return to democracy, one of which is a gradual improvement in the quality of its elections. We are aware that Nigerians want this positive trend to continue, including through the utilization of cutting-edge technology designed to improve transparency in the reporting of results.
“We therefore reiterate our request to INEC to promptly address the issues that can be resolved in advance of the gubernatorial elections on March 11 and to conduct a comprehensive review of the issues that arose during the previous elections and the solutions that are available to address them. The public in Nigeria ought to be informed about the actions that INEC is taking in all instances.
Leonard recognized the legitimate moves made by Obi and Atiku to communicate their complaints.
She stated, “It will be important for the future of this country in the coming days that Nigerians do not let their differences divide them, and that the legally established process for resolving challenges to the election be allowed to take its course.”
“We commend Mr. Tinubu, who INEC declared the president-elect under Nigeria’s electoral framework, for acknowledging their right to do so. We also commend Mr. Obi and Mr. Abubakar for their recent statements committing to take this path.
Conflict and controversy surrounding elections are not uncommon in the United States. In a constitutional democracy governed by the rule of law, it is appropriate to conclude electoral conflicts in a courtroom, despite the fact that doing so can be unsatisfying.
“I also want to highlight some of the remarkable results from this past election that show how Nigeria’s political landscape is indisputably changing,” the ambassador from the United States added. More than half of the states—20—had a winning candidate who belonged to a different political party than the governor who was already in office.
“Governors from the APC control twelve of these states. Based on these initial results, the top three candidates each won 12 states, making it the first time that four presidential candidates won at least one state. Even though the results of the National Assembly elections are still incomplete, we already know that there will be changes: In their attempts to win election to the Assembly, seven sitting governors failed; At least seven Senate seats have been won by the Labor Party; At least 11 seats in the House of Representatives have been won by the NNPP.
“We strongly support the Nigerian people’s ability to express their desire for responsive and inclusive governance. The Nigerian people have made it clear that they want this. The US and Nigeria are the two biggest official majority rules systems on the planet, and long-term accomplices. We are with you as Nigeria navigates the coming weeks and months.