Atiku disappointed in US over Secretary Blinken's call with Tinubu

Nigeria's former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has disagreed with the United States over Secretary of State, Antony Blinken's call with the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Atiku, the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) presidential flag-bearer in the just-concluded general elections, was left in disbelief to find out that the U.S. government official contacted Tinubu to pledge the country's commitment to his administration.

This comes 24 hours after it was disclosed that Blinken had called the President-elect to discuss issues of interest concerning Nigeria and the U.S.

According to a statement by the U.S. State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, Blinken rang Tinubu's phone on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, informing him of the United State's readiness to further strengthen its relationship with Nigeria under the incoming administration.

The secretary noted that the U.S.-Nigeria partnership was built on shared interests and strong people-to-people ties and that those links should continue strengthening under president-elect Tinubu's tenure.

Atiku disagrees with Blinken

Reacting to the development, Atiku in a post on his Twitter page on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, said the Secretary of State's move was a contradiction to the public position the U.S. had earlier taken on the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria.

He questioned why the United States, despite being regarded as the bastion of democracy, would seem to have legitimised the process that produced the President-elect.

Atiku said, "I am in disbelief that @SecBlinken called Tinubu, a contradiction to the publicly stated position of the US on Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election. This is inconceivable considering that America, as the bastion of democracy, is well briefed on the sham election of February 25. To give legitimacy to the widely acknowledged fraudulent election in Nigeria can be demoralising to citizens who have hedged their bet on democracy and the sanctity of the ballot @StateDept @POTUS @USinNigeria. -AA"

It'd be recalled that Atiku and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, are currently in a legal battle to nullify Tinubu's victory over claims that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to do due diligence before announcing the winner of the February 25 poll.

The petitioners have asked the court to