NewsNigeriaPoliticsAtiku, Keyamo disagree over US Secretary of State’s phone conversation with President-elect Tinubu

United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, called the President-elect, Bola Tinubu on Tuesday to discuss the importance of maintaining the bilateral relationship between the US and Nigeria.

The telephone conversation between Blinken and Tinubu was confirmed by the US Department of State spokesperson, Matthew Miller and Tinubu’s spokesperson, Tunde Rahman.

Miller said the US government official spoke with the President-elect “to emphasise his continued commitment to further strengthening the U.S.-Nigeria relationship with the incoming administration.”

He added that the two leaders also “discussed the importance of inclusive leadership that represents all Nigerians, continued comprehensive security cooperation, and reforms to support economic growth.”

Rahman said Tinubu responded by promising to hit the ground running upon his assumption of office on May 29.

The President-elect further pledged to work to ensure continued positive relations with the US, adding that his immediate priorities would be to deliver institutional reforms and development programmes to deepen our democratic institutions and bring help to poor and vulnerable Nigerians.

However, the development, which came 24 hours after the US government announced the planned imposition of visa restrictions on individuals who undermined Nigeria’s democracy during the 2023 general election, was welcomed with displeasure by Atiku Abubakar, the presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Taking to his Twitter page, Atiku, who is challenging Tinubu’s victory and seeking a rerun of the presidential election, said that the phone call is “a contradiction to the publicly stated position of the US on Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election.”

He noted that he is in disbelief that Blinken called Tinubu “to give legitimacy to the widely acknowledged fraudulent election in Nigeria” notwithstanding that the US “is well briefed on the sham election of February 25.”

In reaction to Atiku’s tweet, Festus Keyamo, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment who is always out to silence Tinubu’s critics on the micro-blogging platform said the phone call by the US official legitimises Tinubu’s victory.

His tweet reads: “No, your Excellency, @atiku, it is not a contradiction. The United States and @SecBlinken know you and Peter Obi are behaving like Donald Trump in America: refusing to accept your obvious defeat and relying on propaganda to deceive the world. They have your type in the US, so they understand the issues correctly.

“They know both of you could not have won when, as opposition parties, you split your votes into three parts, with even a revolt of five of your governors within your depleted party. Yes, they know you lost and @officialABAT won, fair and square.”