TheCable

Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has reacted to Anthony Blinken’s phone call to President-elect Bola Tinubu.

Blinken, who is US secretary of state, had called Tinubu on Tuesday, to pledge his country’s commitment to partner with the incoming administration.

Blinken said the US-Nigeria partnership is built on shared interests and strong people-to-people ties and that those links should continue to strengthen under Tinubu’s tenure.

But in a tweet on Wednesday, Abubakar said Blinken’s call to Tinubu contradicted the US position on the general election.

“I am in disbelief that Anthony Blinken, US secretary, called Tinubu, a contradiction to the publicly stated position of the US on Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election,” Abubakar wrote.

“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.”

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

Abubakar came second to Tinubu who was declared the winner of the presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The former vice-president and the PDP are contesting the election outcome in court.