While urging restraint in the face of allegations of voter fraud and worries regarding technical difficulties, the United States congratulated Nigeria on the election of the ruling party candidate for president Bola Tinubu.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with his Nigerian counterpart, Geoffrey Onyeama, outside of a Group of 20 summits in New Delhi, where they spoke about the aftermath of the election, according to aides.
The result of the elections on February 25 in Africa's most populous democracy, "President-elect Tinubu," was announced on Tuesday. A State Department spokeswoman congratulated him on Wednesday.
For Nigerian politics and democracy, "this competitive election signals a new era," Ned Price told reporters on Wednesday.
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Price recognized that some Nigerians were sceptical about the validity of the results because at least one opposition leader had vowed to contest them.
He stated, "We understand that many Nigerians and some of the parties have voiced unhappiness over the election process.
Price urged political leaders to voice their concerns using established legal "mechanisms," saying that Nigerians "evidently within their rights to express these worries, and they ought to have high hopes for their election process.
The leading opposition candidates, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi received 6.9 million and 6.1 million votes, respectively. The candidate for the governing All Progressives Congress, Tinubu, received 8.8 million votes, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Nigerian officials had hoped that new biometric voter identification technology would make the election the freest and fair yet, but errors, protracted delays, and slowly coming results have reinforced fraud claims.
Price urged all parties to avoid using violence or aggressive language in this crucial moment.