The recent phone call between Bola Tinubu, the president-elect of Nigeria, and Antony Blinken, the secretary of state of the United States, drew a response from Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, on Friday.
According to Peter Obi, the US should uphold the values of democracy and the rule of law by letting the Nigerian judiciary choose the victor of the February 25, 2023 presidential election.
Read Also: Mbah: Enugu Gov-Elect, NYSC At Loggerheads Over Legitimacy Of Certificate
The former Anambra governor said this on Friday in a thread of tweets describing Blinken and Tinubu’s conversation as “unclear.”
Obi had challenged the outcome of the presidential election that produced Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner.
However, Blinken called Tinubu on Tuesday and pledged to strengthen the relations between the US and Nigeria.
In his response, Obi said, through his Twitter;
There is still a lack of clarity on the basis of the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken’s call to APC’s presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu on 16th May 2023. The most fundamental tenet and core value of democracy is the rule of law.
Nigeria’s democracy is founded on these principles which the American people hold dear. Without the risk of interfering in Nigeria’s domestic affairs, the U.S.-Nigeria relationship should be guided by the core values of democracy.
Above all, Nigerians expect that the U.S. responses to our affairs should be based on mutual respect, shared ideals, aspirations and interests which ought to transcend the considerations of any individual.
Obi further noted that;
Contextually, the willful manipulation and falsification of the will of Nigerians as freely expressed during the February 25 elections cannot be overlooked by the true friends and partners of Nigeria.
It is thus of overarching importance that a beacon of democracy like the United States should not respond to political developments in Nigeria in a manner that faintly suggests taking sides.
There is an evolving political and judicial process around the last presidential election in Nigeria. We expect the United States to await the full resolution of the ongoing judicial processes before tacitly conferring legitimacy on any of the contending parties.
The final determination of the true winner of the election can only be made by the relevant courts of law. More so, the issues in judicial contention imply far-reaching violations of both the Nigerian Electoral Law and the Nigerian Constitution.
