US diplomacy on Wednesday congratulated the candidate of the ruling party in Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, on his victory in Saturday’s presidential election, while calling on the opposition to show “restraint” after the process ended in a landslide. her questionable.

“The US congratulates the people of Nigeria, President-elect Tinubu and all political leaders” after what was described as the most lopsided election since the restoration of democracy in Africa’s most populous nation in 1999, he said during the accredited editors’ briefing. State Department spokesman Ned Price.

“This competitive electoral process ushers in a new era for Nigerian democracy and politics,” he added.

According to Nigeria’s National Electoral Commission, Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the ruling APC party, collected more than 8.8 million votes, or 36%, in the February 25 election, beating his two main rivals by a margin.

The representative of the American diplomacy, however, added that “we understand that many Nigerians expressed their despair” about the way the elections were conducted, and urged “any candidate or party that wants to challenge the result” to do so through the existing mechanisms.

The victory of Mr. Tinubu, 70, who is known as “the Godfather” because of his immense political influence, has been denounced as the product of widespread fraud by opposition factions, who have called for the election to be annulled and a new one called.

Electoral commission officials had hoped that the use of technology would help make the process more transparent, but technical problems and long delays in the release of results fueled speculation and allegations of massive fraud.

“We call on all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from violent actions and any inflammatory statements at this critical time,” Mr Price said.