President Nana Akufo-Addo has congratulated Nigeria’s president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on winning Saturday’s election, hoping that will “deepen even further the strong friendship that exists between Nigeria and Ghana”.
Tinubu was on Wednesday declared the winner of Nigeria’s disputed presidential election.
The 70-year-old veteran politician won 36% of the vote, official results show. He scored 8,794,726 votes in total, the highest of all the candidates, thus meeting the first constitutional requirement to be declared the winner, the Premium Times of Nigeria reported.
He also secured over 25 per cent of the votes cast in 30 states, more than the 24 states constitutionally required.
Tinubu’s main rival, Atiku Abubakar, polled 29% (6,984,520 votes in total) and Labour’s Peter Obi 25% (a total of 6,101,533 votes). Their parties had earlier dismissed the poll as a sham, and demanded a rerun, the BBC reported.
Peace and stability
On Thursday (2 March 2023), Akufo-Addo sent a congratulatory message to the veteran, saying: “The presidential candidates of the Peoples’ Democratic Party and the Labour Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, respectively, are to be commended for their vigorous, well-fought campaigns, and I am confident that their reactions to the results of the election will reinforce the boundaries of Nigerian democracy, and consolidate the peace and stability of Nigeria, Africa’s giant.”
Below is the full message:
On behalf of the Ghanaian people and their Government, I extend warm congratulations to the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on his victory in the Nigerian presidential election of Saturday, 25th February.
President-elect Bola Tinubu’s victory has ensured that the ruling APC Government has been given four (4) more years to continue in office, which, I am hopeful, will go a long way to enhancing the quality of governance, the rule of law and the performance of the Nigerian economy.
The presidential candidates of the Peoples’ Democratic Party and the Labour Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, respectively, are to be commended for their vigorous, well-fought campaigns, and I am confident that their reactions to the results of the election will reinforce the boundaries of Nigerian democracy, and consolidate the peace and stability of Nigeria, Africa’s giant.
It is my expectation that the President-elect would continue in the stead of past Nigerian leaders, and deepen even further the strong friendship that exists between Nigeria and Ghana, which has been based on a shared agenda of freedom, development, security, progress and prosperity.
Warm congratulations, once again, to President-elect Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu, and to the people of Nigeria. Best wishes for his and Nigeria’s success.
……signed……
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
President of the Republic of Ghana
