The winner of Nigeria's fiercely contested presidential election, Bola Tinubu, is yet to receive an official congratulatory message from U.S. President, Joe Biden, as is customary when any nation deemed an American ally elects a new president.
Given that his distant predecessor, Barack Obama, congratulated Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 on the same day that the country's Independent National Election Commission (INEC) pronounced him the winner, Mr Biden's silence two weeks after Mr Tinubu's victory seems odd.
Last May, Mr Biden had telephoned then Philippine president-elect, Ferdinando Marcos Jr, to congratulate him. The details of the call were published on the White House website.
In a similar situation, the U.S. president had sent a congratulatory message to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, when he emerged winner of the presidential election in Brazil in October 2022, also published on the White House website.
Instead, it was Ned Price, U.S. Department of State spokesperson, who felicitated with Mr Tinubu on behalf of the foreign government while also pointing out that many Nigerians were frustrated with INEC's electoral process
Mr Price encouraged aggrieved candidates to challenge Mr Tinubu's victory in court in the statement.
