Bellnewsonline.com reports that the United States (US) Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, made this known in an op-ed titled.
The US envoy said many are angry with the election result because the February 25 presidential election failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians.
Leonard said even though many Nigerians are angry about the results, some supporters of the winners are celebrating the “hard-fought and well-earned victories.”
The US ambassador also commended the electorate for coming out en masse to vote and demonstrating their dedication to democracy.
She, however, advised INEC to quickly address the problems experienced in the last elections ahead of the governorship and state assembly elections and share with the Nigerians steps taken to rectify the issues.
The statement partly reads, “The people of Nigeria demonstrated their dedication to democracy on February 25, but there are many angry and frustrated Nigerians as well as many who are celebrating victories they believe were hard-fought and well-earned.
“In the coming days, it will be important for the future of this country that Nigerians do not let their differences divide them, and that the legally established process for resolving challenges to the election be allowed to take its course.”
Leonard noted that “more than half of the states – 20 – the winning candidate represented a different party than that of the incumbent governor. Twelve of these states are led by APC governors.
She, therefore, commended Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for their commitment to take the legal path in contesting the presidential elections.
The US ambassador also applauded the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, for acknowledging their right to do so.
Leonard said: “For the first time, four presidential candidates won at least one state, and the top three each won 12 states based on these initial results.
“In the National Assembly elections, even with results still incomplete, we already know that changes are afoot: seven sitting governors lost in their attempts to win election to the Assembly; the Labor Party has won at least seven seats in the Senate; the NNPP has won at least 11 seats in the House of Representatives.”
The US envoy, however, assured that as Nigeria goes through the next few months, the United state government stands with the West African country.