Fact-Check: Did US Congratulate Tinubu on Presidential Election Victory? 

Fact-Check: Did US Congratulate Tinubu on Presidential Election Victory? 

Claim: A claim widely circulating on twitter suggests that the United States of America did not congratulate Nigeria’s President Elect, Bola Tinubu, over his victory at the 2023 Presidential Poll.

Full-Text: While many social media users posted the claims on their timelines, a twitter user @enounoadegbite while replying to a tweet posted by Presidential campaign spokesperson, Festus Keyamo states, “Ologogoro.???????????? I just knew that as the news was going round Twitter yesterday, that US did not congratulate tinubu, FesTHIEF will surely cook up another lie in defense. FesTHIEF where, when and how did the US congratulate tinubu? Yeye dey smell.” 

Another tweep @joeson1001 wrote, “Us did not congratulate Tinubu, at least not yet,” while another tweep @drangeladiele stated, “What peace and when did US congratulate a stolen mandate? We the people did not elect Tinubu so stop the propaganda,” as @BroDom7, “My brother don’t bother yourself. The US did not congratulate any Tinubu. Don’t mind the Nigerian gutter media.”

Verification: Checks by PRNigeria Plus TV Africa, Vanguard and other credible media outlets showed that international communities including the United States of America, United Kingdom and France, have actually congratulated the President-elect, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, after he was declared winner of the presidential election held on Saturday, February 25, 2023. 

The United States, through its State Department spokesman Ned Price congratulated Nigeria and Tinubu, on March 01, 2023. On his twitter handle, Ned wrote that “We congratulate the people of Nigeria, President-elect Bola Tinubu, and all political leaders on the February 25 election results, and their contributions to advancing and strengthening the democratic process in a new era for Nigeria’s democracy.”

Price acknowledged the dissatisfaction among some Nigerians over the validity of the results, but called on the largest African country to embrace peace. 

“We understand that many Nigerians and some of the parties have expressed frustration about the manner in which the process was conducted,” he said.

“Nigerians are clearly within their rights to have such concerns and should have high expectations for their electoral process,” Price said, urging political leaders to register their concerns through established legal “mechanisms.”

The press briefing was equally covered by Premium Times, Vanguard and ThisdayLive among other Nigerian media outlets. 

Conclusion: Based on the information gathered from several sources by PRNigeria , the US officially  congratulated Nigerians and Tinubu on his victory in the election in a statement by the spokesperson of State Department, Ned Prince. 

Therefore, PRNigeria concludes that the claim that the US did not congratulate Tinubu on his election victory is FALSE.

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By PRNigeria