Chinese President Congratulates Bola Tinubu, Says ‘We’re Ready To Work With You’

Chinese President XI Jinping, on Saturday, congratulated Bola Tinubu of the All Progressive Congress following his announcement as president-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

In a statement released by the Chinese Embassy to Nigeria, Xi was quoted as having a high regard for the development of China-Nigeria relations.

The diplomatic office said China “stands ready to work with Tinubu to take the strategic partnership between the two countries to new heights.”

While wishing Tinubu well, President Jinping noted: that “Nigeria is an important strategic partner of China in Africa, adding that the development of bilateral relations has enjoyed a sound momentum in recent years, with practical cooperation in various fields yielding fruitful results.”

“The two countries have supported each other on issues relating to their core interests and major concerns, and have closely coordinated in international and regional affairs,” he said.

China’s president joins other world leaders who have also congratulated Nigeria’s president-elect.

In the last 24 hours, the governments of Denmark, Ukraine, India, Ghana, the United States, and the United Kingdom have sent congratulatory messages to Tinubu.

However, the US urged INEC to address the technical shortfalls that was associated with the 25 February Presidential election, which was criticized by international and local observers.

“We understand that many Nigerians and some of the parties have expressed frustration about the manner in which the process was conducted and the shortcomings of technical elements that were used for the first time in a presidential election cycle in Nigeria.

“Nigerians are clearly within their rights to have such concerns and should have high expectations for their electoral processes. We join other international observers in urging INEC to improve in the areas that need the most attention ahead of the March 11 gubernatorial elections,” the US government stated in its congraulatory message to the people of Nigeria, Tinubu and all relevant political stakeholders.