The African Union (AU) has called on Nigerian politicians aggrieved by the outcome of the February 25, 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections to seek redress in the court of competent jurisdiction while urging Nigerians to uphold peace and the rule of law.
The AU made the call in a statement issued on Friday by its Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, while congratulating Nigerians for demonstrating resilience in their commitment to democratic values by casting their votes for the leaders of their choice
While congratulating the President-elect, Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the AU stated that “In this regard, the Chairperson urges all stakeholders to uphold peace and the rule of law, and further urges that any post-election dispute or grievance be pursued through the judicial system, as provided for by the law.
“The Chairperson expresses his deep gratitude to H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, former president of the Republic of Kenya for his outstanding leadership as head of the African Union Election Mission to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The Chairperson also extends his appreciation to ECOWAS and other partners for their fruitful collaboration in support of a peaceful election process in Nigeria.
“The Chairperson renews the commitment of the African Union to support the sisterly Federal Republic of Nigeria in her journey to deepen democracy, good governance, sustainable development and consolidate peace, security, and stability in the country.”
Nigeria’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the early hours of Wednesday March 1, 2023 declared Tinubu as the winner of the presidential election and also issued him a certificate of return later in the day.
According to the result announced by the INEC, Tinubu polled a total of 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest contenders Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who secured a total of 6,984,520 votes and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) who had a total of 6,101,533 votes
