Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has faulted the telephone conversation between the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, describing it as “demoralising.”
He said with the call, the US was acknowledging what he described as a “fraudulent election” in Nigeria.
The PUNCH reports that Blinken spoke with Tinubu on the phone on Tuesday to emphasise his continued commitment to further strengthening the US-Nigeria relationship with the incoming administration.
During their conversation, Tinubu promised to hit the ground running and unify the country upon his assumption of office on May 29. He also pledged to ensure positive relations with the United States.
The President-elect said that among his immediate priorities would be to deliver institutional reforms and development programs to deepen our democratic institutions and bring help to poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
He also expressed his determination to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy and faithfully serve the people as their president.
During the talks that lasted about 20 minutes, Tinubu spoke about his eventful sojourn in America in the 70s, where he graduated with honours as an accountant in 1979.
He also recalled how he was granted asylum by the US when, due to his determined struggle for democracy in Nigeria, he was forced into exile by the late General Sani Abacha’s military junta.
But reacting to the development on Wednesday, Atiku, who was Tinubu’s challenger during the February 25, 2023 presidential election, said he was in “disbelief” with the telephone conversation.
In a tweet on his Twitter page on Wednesday, the former vice president and Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate during the poll, said the call was a contradiction to the US earlier position on the election.
“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,” he wrote.
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.
But both Atiku, and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, had rejected the results with the duo claiming to have won the election. They are presently in court challenging the election outcome.
