Atiku Abubakar, former vice president of Nigeria and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25 presidential election, expressed shock and disbelief over the United States’ willingness to work with the president-elect, Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
Atiku, via his official Twitter handle on Wednesday, was reacting to Anthony Blinken’s, the Secretary of State’s, call to Tinubu, expressing the current US administration’s desire to work with him. He felt that the issues of legitimacy over the president-elect’s victory were yet to be resolved by the Court and wondered why an election adjudged by many international and local election observers as fraudulent could get an “endorsement” from the biggest democracy in the world.
Read also: May 29: US stretches hands of friendship to Tinubu
“I am in disbelief that @SecBlinken called Tinubu, a contradiction to the publicly stated position of the US on Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election.
“This is inconceivable considering that America, as the bastion of democracy, is well briefed on the sham election of February 25. To give legitimacy to the widely acknowledged fraudulent election in Nigeria can be demoralising to citizens who have hedged their bet on democracy and the sanctity of the ballot @StateDept @POTUS @USinNigeria. -AA,” he tweeted.
I am in disbelief that @SecBlinken called Tinubu, a contradiction to the publicly stated position of the US on Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election. This is inconceivable considering that America, as the bastion of democracy, is well briefed on the sham election of February 25.…
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) May 17, 2023
Earlier in the day, the US State Department published on its website that both leaders (Tinubu and Blinken) had talked about how both countries can continue strengthening many areas of bilateral cooperation.
