The US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement while calling for calm amid accusations of voter fraud and concerns over technical hitches.
The United States has congratulated Nigeria on the election of All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.
The US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement while calling for calm amid accusations of voter fraud and concerns over technical hitches.
“The United States congratulates the people of Nigeria, president-elect Tinubu and all the political leaders.
“This competitive election represents a new period for Nigerian politics and democracy,” he said.
Price also acknowledged the discontent among some Nigerians over the validity of the results, as at least one opposition figure has promised to dispute the outcome.
The Labour Party on Wednesday vowed to challenge Tinubu’s victory in court.
“We understand that many Nigerians and some of the parties have expressed frustration about the manner in which the process was conducted,” he said.
“Nigerians are clearly within their rights to have such concerns and should have high expectations for their electoral process,” Price said, urging political leaders to register their concerns through established legal ‘mechanisms’.
"Nigerian officials had hoped new biometric voter identification technology would make the election the cleanest yet, but malfunctions, long delays and slow results have fueled the accusations of fraud.
“We call on all parties to refrain from violence or inflammatory rhetoric at this critical time,” Price said.