APC and PDP continue bickering over election result as China's President Xi Jinping congratulates Tinubu

NIGERIA'S two main political parties the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) remain at loggerheads over last Saturday's presidential elections even as China's President Xi Jinping congratulates Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on his victory.

Nigerians went to the polls on Saturday February 25 to elect a new president and the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) declared Asiwaju Tinubu of the APC the winner. Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Inec chairman who served as the returning officer for the election, declared him the victor with 8,794,726  votes, defeating his nearest opponent, former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the PDP who came second with 6,984,520 votes.

 However, the PDP and the Labour Party who came second and third in the polls have refused to accept the results and have gone to court to challenge the APCs victory. Earlier today, the PDP organised a demonstration outside Inec's offices in Abuja to protest the results.

However, Senator Iyiola Omisore, the APC's national secretary described the protest march as an act of desperation. Speaking at the APC national secretariat in Abuja when he received a congratulatory letter from President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Senator Omisore said the PDP were just bad losers.

Senator Omisore added: “They are just plain losers, simple. They are just pure losers, simple no more, no less. In any contest, there must be a winner and there must be losers. So must they win? No!

“They are just bad losers simple. Very undemocratic and they are desperate people, desperados simple.”

He then commended the Chinese government for believing in Nigeria as well as the electoral agency and the process. Senator Omisore said the letter from Beijing was a testament to the global acceptability of the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections.

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“On behalf of the national chairman and the national working committee, I want to thank the Chinese government for believing in us, for believing in Nigeria, for believing in Inec and for believing in the process of the electoral campaign. This welcome development is a signpost that the world has accepted this election and equally from the Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"This is the testimony of the fairness, the freeness and acceptability of the election across the world,” Senator Omisore added.

President Jinping's letter was presented by the directing officer of the Chinese embassy, Wu Baocai assisted by the second secretary, Mr HE Shurong. Dated March 3, 2023 and personally signed by the Chinese president to Asiwaju Tinubu, the letter read: “I learned with great joy of your election as president of Nigeria and on behalf of the Chinese government and the Chinese people, I would like to extend to you my sincere congratulations and best wishes.

"I am confident that, under your leadership, Nigeria will continue to make new achievements in the cause of national building and development. In recent years, the bilateral relations between our two countries enjoy a sound momentum of development, with fruitful cooperation in various fields, mutual support to each other on issues of core interests and major concerns, and close coordination on international and regional affairs.

“I attach great importance to the development of China-Nigeria relations and stand ready to work with you to take the China-Nigeria Strategic Partnership to new heights.”