Presidential election fell short of Nigerians' expectations - US envoy

The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, has called into question the credibility of the just concluded presidential election in Nigeria.

According to the envoy, the outcome of the exercise fell short of the expectations of Nigerians as many people have continued to express their anger and frustration with the results, while on the other hand, some others are celebrating what they believe was a victory legitimately earned.

In all, Leonard praised Nigerians for demonstrating their belief and dedication to democracy in a peaceful manner.

She made these known in an op-ed, ‘The Elections of February 25,’ in which she also urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to without delay address the challenges that can be resolved before the March 11 governorship and state assembly elections.

Leonard also advised the commission to undertake a broad review of the entire problems that impugned the credibility of the last elections and identify what can be done to fix them.

While commending the Labour Party and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar respectively on their commitment to explore legal means to challenge the presidential elections, Leonard also reserved some praises for the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, for acknowledging their right to do so.

The statement partly read: “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.

“For the first time, four presidential candidates won at least one state, and the top three each won 12 states based on these initial results.

“In the National Assembly elections, even with results still incomplete, we already know that changes are afoot: seven sitting governors lost in their attempts to win election to the Assembly; the Labor Party has won at least seven seats in the Senate; the NNPP has won at least 11 seats in the House of Representatives.”