The US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, has said that the February 25 election failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians.
In a statement on Sunday, she said that many Nigerians are angry and frustrated with the results of the February 25 election, while some others are celebrating victories they believe were hard-fought and well-earned.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had early Wednesday morning declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the election.
According to INEC, Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes, followed by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party who has now run for president six times with 6,984,520 votes, while the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, secured 6,101,533.
The election result sheets was not signed by PDP, LP, NNPP, and other parties which had earlier on Monday staged a walk out of the national collation centre.
Both Atiku and Obi have faulted the presidential election, vowing to challenge the result in court.
Obi in a world press conference on Thursday, said that his party won the February 25th election and that he will prove it to Nigerians.
“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 is 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.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
