The United States Secretary of State, Antony J Blinken, has promised Nigeria’s “President-elect” Bola Ahmed Tinubu that the President Joe Biden’s administration is committed to strengthening diplomatic relations with Nigeria.
This was contained in a statement Blinken released to the public, announcing that he was in a telephone conversation with the Nigerian “President-elect” to discuss how to strengthen inclusive governance in the most populous African nation.
He said, “Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke this morning with Nigerian President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu to emphasise his continued commitment to further strengthening the U.S.-Nigeria relationship with the incoming administration
“The Secretary noted that the U.S.-Nigeria partnership is built on shared interests and strong people-to-people ties and that those links should continue to strengthen under President-elect Tinubu’s tenure.
“Secretary Blinken and President-elect Tinubu discussed the importance of inclusive leadership that represents all Nigerians, continued comprehensive security cooperation, and reforms to support economic growth,” the statement added.
Recall that The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, as the president-elect.
This was amid protests by the Labour Party and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and calls from various quarters that the results of the elections be cancelled going by irregularities around the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS).
Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, was declared the “president-elect” after the 70-year-old polled 8,794,726 votes to win the 2023 presidential election.