Mixed reactions have continued to trail Nigeria’s presidential and National Assembly (NASS) elections, with the United States of America expressing failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide a process that meets the expectations of the citizens.
The INEC declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who it said polled 8,794,726 votes; Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), 6,984,520 votes, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, 6,101,533 votes, becoming first and second runners up, respectively.
To promote transparency in the electoral process, the INEC boss failed in his promise that results would be uploaded to the Commission’s portal immediately at polling units.
Following others to react, the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, in a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday, said many citizens are angry and frustrated with the results.
“It is clear that the electoral process as a whole on February 25 failed to meet Nigerians’ expectations.
“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,” Leonard stated.
The Ambassador advised INEC to address challenges that can be resolved before the March 11 governorship elections.
She also called on INEC to undertake a broader review of the problems that transpired during the last elections and fix what can be fixed.
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.
