By Halimah Olamide
The U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has assured Nigerian President-elect Bola Tinubu of the U.S. commitment to further strengthening the U.S.-Nigeria relationship with the incoming administration.
Blinken, in a statement by U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller, said he called the President-elect on Tuesday to discuss issues of interest.
The secretary noted that the U.S.-Nigeria partnership was built on shared interests and strong people-to-people ties and that those links should continue to strengthen under President-elect Tinubu’s tenure.
He also discussed the importance of inclusive leadership that represents all Nigerians, continued comprehensive security cooperation, and reforms to support economic growth with the president elect.
President-elect Bola Tinubu will be sworn-in on May 29, 2023
Tinubu was declared winner of the February 25 presidential election in Nigeria and he is to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.
The talks between Tinubu and Blinken came amidst row over US visa ban on some Nigerians over alleged involvement in electoral fraud.
Just on Tuesday, one of the loyalists of Tinubu and a member of his campaign committee Femi Fani-Kayode, berated the US Government for stalling the visa ban on some Nigerians accusing the U.S. of double standards.
He had said that the US President Joe Biden himself had been accused of what he called blatant electoral fraud by his predecessor.
He said no one should lose sleep over the ban slammed by the US Government.