Nigeria: U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Urges Patience With Election Challenges

6 March 2023
Voice of America (Washington, DC)

The U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria acknowledged in a statement Sunday that following the African nation's recent election, "there are many angry and frustrated Nigerians as well as many who are celebrating victories."

Mary Beth Leonard urged that "the legally established process for resolving challenges to the election be allowed to take its course."

"As much as it can be unsatisfying to end an electoral process in a courtroom, in a constitutional democracy bound by the rule of law, "Leonard said, "that is where electoral conflicts may appropriately conclude."

Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu the next president of Nigeria.

INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu said Tinubu, the ruling All Progressives Congress party candidate, received almost 8.8 million votes to win the most hotly contested race since Nigeria became a democracy.

Opposition leaders called the election a "sham" and have pledged to go to court to challenge the outcome.

Read the original article on VOA.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2023 Voice of America. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 110 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.