February 25 Presidential Election Failed To Meet Nigerians’ Expectations—US Ambassador To Nigeria

<h4>February 25 Presidential Election Failed To Meet Expectations<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>OpenLife Nigeria reports that the overview of Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard&comma; United States of America Ambassador to Nigeria&comma; indicates that the February 25 presidential election in Nigeria did not meet the expectations of Nigerians&period; This is contained in a statement made available to OpenLife Sunday morning as reproduced below unedited<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>The people of Nigeria demonstrated their dedication to democracy on February 25&comma; but there are many angry and frustrated Nigerians as well as many who are celebrating victories they believe were hard-fought and well-earned&period; In the coming days&comma; it will be important for the future of this country that Nigerians not let their differences divide them&comma; and that the legally established process for resolving challenges to the election be allowed to take its course&period; We commend Mr&period; Obi and Mr&period; Abubakar for their recent statements committing to take this path&comma; and Mr&period; Tinubu&comma; who INEC declared the president-elect under Nigeria’s electoral framework&comma; for acknowledging their right to do so&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>The United States is no stranger to election-related controversy and conflict&period; As much as it can be unsatisfying to end an electoral process in a courtroom&comma; in a constitutional democracy bound by the rule of law&comma; that is where electoral conflicts may appropriately conclude&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>It is clear that the electoral process as a whole on February 25 failed to meet Nigerians’ expectations&period; As I said numerous times prior to the elections&comma; Nigeria has accomplished much in just the two-plus decades since the return to democracy&comma; and a gradual improvement in the quality of its elections in that time constitutes one of those accomplishments&period; We recognize that Nigerians want that positive trend to continue&comma; including through the use of new technology intended to make the process of reporting results more transparent&period; We thus reiterate our call on INEC to address promptly the challenges that can be resolved ahead of the March 11 gubernatorial elections&comma; and to undertake a broader review of the problems that transpired during the last elections and what can be done to fix them&period; In all cases&comma; INEC should share with the Nigerian public information about the actions it is taking&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>I also want to highlight some of the remarkable results from this past election that show how Nigeria’s political landscape is indisputably changing&period; In more than half of the states – 20 – the winning candidate represented a different party than that of the incumbent governor&period; Twelve of these states are led by APC governors&period; For the first time&comma; four presidential candidates won at least one state&comma; and the top three each won 12 states based on these initial results&period; In the National Assembly elections&comma; even with results still incomplete&comma; we already know that changes are afoot&colon; seven sitting governors lost in their attempts to win election to the Assembly&semi; the Labor Party has won at least seven seats in the Senate&semi; the NNPP has won at least 11 seats in the House of Representatives&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>The Nigerian people have made clear their desire for responsive and inclusive governance&comma; and we strongly support their ability to express that desire&period; The United States and Nigeria are the two largest presidential democracies in the world&comma; and longtime partners&period; As Nigeria goes through these next weeks and months&comma; we stand with you&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;