Sunak congratulates Tinubu, seeks partnership between UK, Nigeria

United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has congratulated President-elect Bola Tinubu on the heels of the just concluded presidential election.

Both the UK and Nigeria share a longstanding relationship that has withstood the latter’s over-62-year independence from the former.

“Congratulations to @officialABAT on his victory in Nigeria. The UK-Nigeria relationship remains strong,” Sunak tweeted on Wednesday evening.

“I look forward to working together to grow our security and trade ties, opening up opportunities for businesses and creating prosperity in both our countries.”

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Tinubu the winner in the small hours of Wednesday morning.

After a hard-fought battle, on February 25, 70-year-old Tinubu, on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), claimed the highest number of votes — 8,794,726, almost two million votes more than his closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Abubakar, 76, who has now run for president six times, got 6,984,520 votes, while the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, who, in less than a year, galvanised young voters in a manner some have described as unprecedented finished the race with 6,101,533.