Tinubu emerges as Nigeria's new president-elect against all controversy

World leaders, including Emmanuel Macron and the U.S Department of State's spokesman, Ned Price, have congratulated the president-elect, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and all political leaders following the declaration by Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the results of the February 25 presidential election.

This competitive election represents a new period for Nigerian politics and democracy. Each of the top three candidates was the leading vote-getter in 12 states, a remarkable first in Nigeria’s modern political era, reflecting the diversity of views that characterized the campaign and the wishes of Nigeria’s voters.

Many Nigerians and some of the parties have expressed frustration about the manner in which the process was conducted and the shortcomings of technical elements that were used for the first time in a presidential election cycle. Nigerians are clearly within their rights to have such concerns and should have high expectations for their electoral processes. International Observers urge INEC to improve in the areas that need the most attention ahead of the March 11 gubernatorial elections.

There are well-established mechanisms in place for the adjudication of electoral disputes, and candidates or parties seeking to challenge the outcome to pursue redress through those mechanisms have been encouraged. Also, the international observers appeal to all parties, candidates, and supporters to refrain from violence or inflammatory rhetoric at this critical time.

With concern reports that numerous members of the media were attacked during the course of the election, and the government was urged to strengthen its security forces, political actors, and ensure all citizens to respect the media’s critical role by refraining from any damaging acts against them and ensuring accountability for such acts when they do occur. 

The International Observers congratulate the Nigerian people, especially the large number of youths who are relatively new to the political process, for demonstrating their strong commitment to democracy.

世界領導人，包括埃馬紐爾·馬克龍和美國國務院發言人內德·普萊斯，在尼日利亞獨立全國選舉委員會 (INEC) 宣布選舉結果後，向當選總統、參議員 Bola Ahmed Tinubu 和所有政治領導人表示祝賀 2月25日總統大選。 這次競爭性選舉代表了尼日利亞政治和民主的新時期。 前三名候選人中的每一位都是 12 個州的主要得票人，這在尼日利亞現代政治時代是一個了不起的第一次，反映了競選活動和尼日利亞選民願望的不同觀點。

許多尼日利亞人和一些政黨對該過程的進行方式以及在總統選舉週期中首次使用的技術元素的缺點表示失望。 尼日利亞人顯然有這種擔憂的權利，應該對他們的選舉過程抱有很高的期望。 國際觀察員敦促 INEC 在 3 月 11 日州長選舉之前改進最需要關注的領域。

有完善的選舉爭端裁決機制，並鼓勵候選人或政黨尋求挑戰結果，通過這些機制尋求補救。 此外，國際觀察員呼籲所有政黨、候選人和支持者在這個關鍵時刻不要使用暴力或煽動性言論。

令人關切的是，許多媒體成員在選舉期間遭到襲擊，敦促政府加強其安全部隊和政治行為體，並確保所有公民尊重媒體的關鍵作用，避免對媒體採取任何破壞性行為 並確保在此類行為確實發生​​時追究其責任。

國際觀察員祝賀尼日利亞人民，特別是大量剛接觸政治進程的青年表現出對民主的堅定承諾。